A Change of Heart
by lyndsied
Summary: Paul's boss Stephanie has always been overbearing, bossy, and mean.  Until she gets a letter to go back to her home country of Canada and leave her 7 month old daughter behind.  Will Paul do her a favor in which she doesn't really deserve?
1. One

"Paul Levesque, get in my office now!" Stephanie yelled over the intercom, Paul stood in the bathroom staring at the wall above the urinal. He closed his eyes and zipped his pants up. He considered sneaking out the back door and wait for the call, she wasn't as scary over the phone. He stared at himself in the big mirror as he washed his hands, then the door swung open.

"Dude, she really wants you in her office, you'd better get in there before she comes for your head." His friend Shawn stood next to one of the urinals, "she's walking around asking people if they've seen you, that's when you know she's pissed off."

"Fuck." Paul sighed, "you think if I hide out in here I might be able to not be found. I don't wanna get yelled at today."

The door swung open again, this time it was his boss, "where the hell were you? I called for you over the intercom twice. And I also called your cell phone twice, are you trying to ignore me and make me more angrier?"

Paul gulped, "no Miss McMahon, I was going to the bathroom, I didn't hear you call for me." He dried his hands off, "is everything okay? You seem really upset right now." He tried to suck up to her.

"No, I'm not okay, and you ignoring me isn't helping at all." She looked at Shawn, "get out, I need to talk to Mr. Levesque alone." Without word, Shawn jumped from the urinal to the door and outside, "you have to take my car and go get Madison. Her daycare closes early today and I can't go get her, I'm doing paperwork right now."

"Why do I have to take your car?" He kept his distance, fearing that she might reach out and slap him for asking questions.

"Because, I have her carseat." She handed him the keys, "it's the black Range Rover, I know you've seen it before."

"Okay, yeah, I know what you're talking about." He took the keys and shoved them in his pocket, when I pick her up, what do you want me to do? Should I bring her here?"

"Yes, of course bring her here. Where else would you take her?" She turned around and opened the door, "and don't take Shawn, please."

"Sure." He nodded and watched her leave, he stood with his head poked outside the door until she was out of sight, then he took out his cell phone and pushed the walkie-talkie button, "Shawn, meet me in the parking lot in five minutes, we have a job to do."

And sure enough, Paul looked at his watch when he got out to the parking lot, it was four minutes later and Shawn was standing beside Paul's car, "what are we doing?"

"Going to pick up Stephanie's daughter, Madison, her daycare called late and said they have to close early today, that's why Stephanie was so pissed off today."

"Paul, she's always pissed off, at everyone, and you let her take it out on you, don't just say she was pissed off today." Shawn looked confused when Paul didn't unlock his car, "wait, how are we getting Madison?"

"This very nice Range Rover here, Madison's carseat is already in there, so, she handed me the keys, you aren't even supposed to be with me, she told me not to take you." He unlocked the new, black Range Rover, "since we aren't using my gas, I'm taking my time driving around, we aren't in a rush, right?" He started the car and put it into reverse.

"But even if you aren't using your gas, what's the problem? You're like one under her, you make almost just as much." Shawn buckled himself in, "and hey, why didn't she want me to go with you? Does she really not like me that much?" 

"Yeah, you could say that." Paul backed out of the front parking spot and slowly circled around the lot, "duck for a second, just in case she's like, watching me or something. I don't doubt that she would spy on me."

Shawn put his head between his knees until he felt it was safe to come back up, "she's overbearing, how the hell do you put up with that?" He reached for the radio and hit power, "you're glasses are in your car Paul. You know you aren't supposed to drive without your glasses."

"It ain't my car. Stephanie doesn't know I'm supposed to be wearing glasses." He pulled a paper out of his pocket, "turn the navigation thing on, and hit the number 2, it should come up with the daycare place's address." He waited as Shawn pushed the buttons, "that's all she told me, I have no clue where this place is."

They drove past the daycare center twice before realizing the navigation system told them to turn, "this is it, right here." Paul pulled into the small parking lot and shut the engine off, "damn, I would love to have Steph's car, that thing is nice." He pushed the keypad and locked the SUV, "I wonder if I could trade in the Mercedes."

"Paul, come on, you don't want the same car as that bitch, I like the Mercedes better." She covered his mouth, "something tells me bitch wasn't the right word to say here."

"You think?" Paul put his hands on the counter, "um, I'm here for Stephanie to pick up Madison McMahon, she's at work still, I'm sure she called and said that Paul Levesque was coming."

"Yes, here's Maddy's bag, she's almost out of diapers in there too." The woman walked to a crib, "she was taking a nap, but here she is, she's such a sweet baby."

Paul took her into his arms and smiled for a second, "alright, thanks, I'm sure you'll see Miss McMahon tomorrow, have a nice day." He slowly carried Madison to the car, "now we're going back to mommy's office, where I prey she'll be nice to me for once."

"Pshh, yeah, right, Stephanie doesn't know how to be nice. You know, she's gonna regret the day she needs someone's help outside of work, cause there's no way she has friends, nobody will ever help her."


	2. Two

Paul locked the Range Rover again and took the elevator up to the fourth floor, he carried Madison and her diaper bag across the hall and sighed before opening Stephanie's door, "Maddy's here!" He smiled but noticed Stephanie's face was pale and her eyes were full of tears, "are you okay?"

She only shook her head and wiped her face, then held her hands out for her daughter, "hi baby girl, hi." Her face seemed to lighten up once she had Madison in her hands, "Paul, I need to ask you a favor, um, my house is being like, fumigated, and, do you have an extra bedroom or something?"

"Well yeah, but I live pretty far away from here, why don't you just get a motel room or something around here?" He knew something was wrong and she was avoiding it, like she always did, "Stephanie?"

"I'm gonna be sick, take Madison." She shoved Maddy in his arms and ran out the door down the hallway, barely making it to the bathroom.

Paul looked to her desk, trying to find why she seemed really upset. He used his free hand to look through a couple of papers, he noticed one said 'US Immigration' before he heard footsteps coming towards the room, "so, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Steph stood in the doorway, "I don't like hotels, they're gross, and a lot of them don't like babies because they cry. I don't care where you live, all I ask is that you have an extra bedroom. I hate when you ask questions." She sighed and sat back down at her desk.

"Jeez, well I won't ask any more damn questions. Sorry." He rolled his eyes, "if you hate when I ask questions, I hate when you're mean." He bit his lip, "if you need a place to stay tonight, maybe, you should be a little bit nicer about it."

Her eyes burned a hole in his forehead, "oh shut up." She huffed, "you know what? I don't have to stay at your house, I'd rather stay in a disgusting hotel room than have to spend another hour with you."

"Yeah, right, make it seem like I'm the jerk, while I go and pick up your daughter, I'm standing here holding her as you yell at me, and I never refused letting you stay at my house."

"Give me my daughter," she snatched Madison from his hands, "wait, are you saying you'd let me stay at your house?" She bit her lip, "I'm sorry I yelled."

"Well I don't want you at my house if you're just gonna yell at me. You can't yell at me in my own house." He put his hands on his hips and looked out the window, "is there any specific reason there would be a tow truck parked right behind your car?"

"What?" She screeched, jumping from her desk to the window, "how do you know its for my car and not yours, which is parked right next to mine."

"Cause the driver is looking into your window." Inside he was smiling, "I'll get Shawn to watch Maddy and I'll go out there with you. Shawn!" He yelled towards the door, "he was probably listening to us yelling."

"Yeah, hey, what's up?" Shawn calmly walked in the office, hands in his pockets.

"Keep an eye on Madison, we'll be right back." Paul patted Shawn's shoulder before rushing out the door with Stephanie on his heels, it was an awkward silence in the elevator but once they got outside, Stephanie went off on the tow-truck driver.

"What the hell are you doing with my car?" She screamed, Paul's brain rattled, "I've been paying for it since I bought it. What's the problem?"

"Ma'am, the bank told us to repossess it because," the man looked to Paul and pulled out a roll of papers from his back pocket, "read these ma'am. They told us its confidential between you and them, and us."

Paul squinted his eyes as he looked away, nothing was said as Stephanie read the papers, then handed them back to the man, "is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I know why this is happening." She looked as if she were going to burst into tears again, "about staying at your house, I think you have to take us now." She looked to the truck driver, "can I get my belongings out of my car before you take it?"

"Sure, go ahead. It would be even better if you gave us the keys, you might have an easier time getting it back." He nodded towards her.

Paul pulled her eyes out of her pocket, "here." He put them in her hand and walked towards his own car, "let's get the carseat and everything else in here."

For a slight second, a small smile turned on her lips, then she closed her eyes and looked back at the truck driver, "here's the keys, just please be careful with it, please. It's brand new."

"Yes ma'am." The driver unlocked her car and opened the driver door. She opened the back door and started to take the carseat out, "Paul, can you get her stroller out of the trunk please?"

It was the first time she'd ever asked him to do something for her and actually said please, "sure, will it fit in my trunk?"

She just nodded, thinking about why her car was being taken away. She slowly took the carseat from her car to Paul's car, "this goes to a latch somewhere, I don't know where it would be in your car."

He looked at the strap in her hand, "yeah, it goes around the seat into the trunk, I've seen the latch before, "I'll get this for you. Just go deal with the tow guy." He took the seat and worked on installing it in his car. When he was done, he waited for her and the truck driver to finish talking before he approached her, "so, what's really going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it yet." She sharply replied, gathering a few more things from the Range Rover, then nodding towards the driver, "thanks Jerry." She put the stuff in Paul's trunk next to the stroller, "I might explain when I feel like it."

"Oh." He sarcastically nodded, "you can't explain to me why I have to take you to my house in my car? I just have to do it huh?"

She sighed, "yes, you do, if you want to keep your job." She closed the trunk and started back for the office building.

"Are you even sure you're my boss anymore? Cause obviously, something happened to your house, and now, your car, is your job next?" He was hot on her heels, unable to resist talking about the predicament he believed she was in.

"Stop following me like that, I can feel you breathing down my neck." She pushed the button on the elevator, "if you give me time to think about how I want to let people know about my problems, maybe you will be the first person I tell."

"So you are having problems? Steph, just tell me, I'm not gonna judge you or anything. You can tell me."

"Yeah, and then you'll tell Shawn and he'll tell everyone else, I'm not worried about you 'judging' me, I just don't want everyone to know what's going on. End of subject, okay?" She fixed her skirt and the elevator door opened, "are you ready to go home?"

"Early? You're letting me off early?" Paul was in shock, "why? Something must really be wrong, this is so weird." He followed her into her office, "of course I'm ready to go home, I come to work ready to go back home."

"How do you think Shawn would handle being in charge while you and I aren't here? I'm thinking about taking a little bit of time off and putting him in charge." She gathered a stack of papers and stuffed them into a briefcase.

"Wait, I'm above him, why would you put him in charge and not me?" He got kind of upset, he'd been jumping through hoops for Stephanie for the past eight years and hearing this wasn't fair.

She shot him a look and he instantly shut his mouth, "before you start arguing with me, there's a few things I want to tell you. After you hear those things, then maybe you'll understand why I'm putting him in charge, and not you." She handed her bag to him and smiled, "I'll be right back, I'm going to Shawn's office to get Madison so we can leave. I'll meet you downstairs, and can you get the diaper bag for me, please?"

"Yeah, sure." He smiled back, noticing hers wasn't fake, or sarcastic, it was a sincere smile. This was when he realized something bad had to be happening.


	3. Three

Paul turned the radio on in his car, Stephanie looked at him and looked at Madison in the backseat, "if that radio wakes her up, I'll kill you." She crossed her arms, I never listened to the radio in my car."

"Well I did on the way to get Maddy. It was a pretty nice radio too." He smiled, getting on the freeway, "if you don't mind me asking, where did you live?"

Before she answered, she looked at the speedometer and saw the needle was pointing at 70, "there's a baby in the car, slow down." She felt uncomfortable, she'd never spent more than just a workday with Paul, here she was now in his car, headed for his house.

"I really don't want to get stuck in traffic, okay? It already takes about an hour to get to my house, with traffic, it would take as long as three hours." He switched lanes and weaved around two cars.

"I lived a few blocks away from the office. You live an hour away? Why even bother working for me?" She was holding onto the handle of the door, fearing the way Paul drove.

"The money's worth it." He smiled, "you know what I just realized, because you're with me, I get the carpool lane." He changed lanes to the far left, not answering her other question.

She sighed and looked out the window, seeing a sign for Malibu, "wait a second, you live in Malibu? I own where you work and you have the house in Malibu?" She was staring at him, wide-eyed.

"I don't have a nice big house or anything, but it's a nice little condo on the beach." He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, "jealous?"

She bit her lip, "a little. I have a big house in Agoura Hills, and you have a condo in Malibu, must be nice." She folded her hands in her lap, thinking about her former fiancé.

It was silent for the rest of the ride home, until Paul pushed a button on the dash and his garage door opened, "welcome to my awesome, giant man-cave." He turned the car off and opened his door, "how do you plan on stay here without clothes?" He jingled his keys, "just wondering."

"Don't worry about that yet." She opened her door, "when we go inside, and I put Madison down, we need to talk, like, really need to talk."

"Are you gonna fire me or something? Cause if you are, just tell me now." He continued to sit in the car, "this whole time, I keep thinking that you're gonna be nice to me and stuff, and then fire me."

"Paul, if I were going to fire you, which I am not, I wouldn't have asked you to take me to your house and have me stay here." She closed her door and got Madison from the back, "I promise you that you aren't getting fired."

"That makes me feel better, even though at the same time it doesn't." He waited as she took the carrier off of the car seat, "what do we need to talk about?" He opened the door to the kitchen for her, his question completely ignored.

She put Madison on the counter, "just in case our little talk gets loud, where can I put her?" She unbuckled the straps but left her sleeping in the seat.

"My office is the guest bedroom, there's a hideaway bed in there." He led the way to the bedroom, "here it is." He went to the couch and pulled the cushions off, then pulled the bed out, "I have pillows and blankets in the closet here, take what you need." He crossed his arms, "does she sleep in there?" He pointed to the carseat.

"Yeah, I don't want to risk waking her up when I take her out." She put the seat down on the bed and cleared her throat, "okay, so about this little talk, let's go back to the living room." She followed him back out, "I need you to do the biggest favor ever for me."

His eyebrows rose, "a favor huh?" He opened his refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.

She swallowed hard and tightly closed her eyes, "I need you to be my husband." She waited a few seconds before opening her eyes to see his face.

He smiled, "what? Very funny, now what's the real favor?" He opened the water waiting for her response, worried when he didn't get one.

She shook her head, "Paul, I'm not kidding, that's the favor. I need you to marry me." She sighed and pushed her hair back, "I'm totally serious, I was born in Canada, and I blew off my paperwork because I was busy, they're making me go back. And I can't take Madison, she was born here, her father is a citizen here."

"Was." Paul snorted, "they have to understand, Randy's dead, where else would Madison go if she can't go with you? She's only seven months old." He put the cap back on his water bottle.

"I know Randy's dead." Her former fiancé, Randy Orton, died in a car accident when she was six months pregnant with Madison, every time someone talked about him, she wanted to cry, "I don't know what else to do. If I'm married to someone who's a citizen here, I won't have to go back. That's where you come in. And this is only because I trust you. If Randy were still alive, I wouldn't ask this of you."

"What about this, you go back, you still own the tax place, I'll take care of Madison until you can come back. I promise everything will be fine. I have a video camera, I'll capture all her firsts for you. First word, step, curse word, I'll bet a curse word is gonna be her first word with you as her mother."

"I want to be there for all her firsts Paul, she's my daughter. All I ask is this one thing. Please." Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "plus, I can't be the owner of the tax place if I live in Canada, they won't allow it."

"Hell, that's better for me, does that mean it'll go to me? Why should I do this for you when all you have ever been to me is mean old witch." He bit his lip, "sorry, but you know, you have."

"I know." She wiped the makeup from her eyes, "I won't be mean to you anymore, I promise, and I'll give you a raise, how much do you want. Or do you want something else, tell me something you want and I'll get it for you. I'm only asking you to do this for Madison, if I didn't have her, I would go back and not have any issues."

Paul thought for a minute, then sighed, "all I really ask for, is for you to not be such a bitch to me, that's it. Don't yell at me, don't expect a whole lot at work from me now either."

"Are you saying you'll do it?" She smiled, "I'm not gonna be mean anymore I promise. And remember how I put Shawn in charge, this is why." She wiped her face again, "I don't even know how to thank you for this."

"Hmm." He took a drink, "do you drink?" He opened a small cabinet under the counter, "I think I need a shot of something, you know, to calm the nerves." He pulled a shot glass out of another cabinet and placed it on the granite counter, "you need something?"

She contemplated saying no, but after watching him shoot back whiskey, she sighed, "yeah, give me something." He handed her a full shit of whiskey, "what do I do, just swallow it all?" She picked up the tiny glass and smelled it.

"Yeah. Just do it and get it over with, one shot, stops the shakiness." He put the cap back on the whiskey bottle, "it burns a little going down but it's a good burn." He smiled as she swallowed it and scrunched up her face, "how you feel?"

"Fine." She cleared her throat, still feeling the burn, "I think my mom's calling me, she's probably wondering when she's gonna meet you." She grabbed her cell phone from her purse on the counter.

"Whoa, I just agreed to this, how does she know already?" He put the glass in the sink and the bottle back in the cabinet, "and we need to talk about who gets to know."

"I kinda assumed you would agree to it. So I told her, I don't care who we tell." She was holding her ringing phone in one hand with the other over her mouth, "I kinda just thought you would be okay with this."

"What if I hadn't? Then what would you have done?" He smiled, seeing her in distress made him laugh for some strange reason, "and another thing, don't you have any other friends who would have agreed to this? Why me?"

She looked down, the phone stopped ringing and it was silent, "Paul, you of all people should know I don't have a lot of friends. Mainly because I'm uptight and high-strung. I really don't know what I would have done if you said no."

"And she admits it." He nodded, a grin still plaster on his face, "that's what I really wanted, right there, I just wanted to hear you say that you're mean. And you did and I'm happier now."

She exhaled loudly, "your welcome, now I'm gonna call my mother back and tell her that its for real, I'm getting married."

"I have a question," he raised his hand, being sarcastic, "how were you born in Canada? Your mom lives here."

"The last time I saw my dad was when I was five, and I was in Canada, he still lives there, my mom got me here because he was an unfit parent. To get custody of a child away from the other side of their family is just more than I can handle, Randy's parents would never let me take Madison out of the country, ever. Even if it was for legal reasons."

"So asking me to marry you is easier? This is gonna be fun. Pretending to be married." He chuckled, a smirk on his lips, "if this doesn't go like you want, I'm out, if something happens, the first thing I'm doing is telling Immigration you made me."

An astonished and upset look took her face, "you would really do that? That's really nice of you. Really nice." She stomped to the extra bedroom, "I promise you, its not Immigration you need to be worried about."


	4. Four

"Well good morning my wonderful, fake fiancée." Paul stumbled out of his bedroom and towards the kitchen, "how'd you sleep?" He opened the freezer and pulled a box out, "how long have you been awake?"

"For about an hour or so. I slept okay." She was trying not to stare, but his blonde hair everywhere made it hard, "so I need coffee and I thought I would say something and not just steal your car to go to Starbucks."

"That's what I'm doing. I'm gonna make coffee right now. Do you just want regular coffee? I like the chocolate one." He opened the box and took out a small plastic cup.

"Wait, what the hell?" She got up and stood in the kitchen beside him, "why's the coffee in a little cup?"

"Because it goes in my coffee pot like this." He opened the top of his Keurig coffee brewer and placed the tiny cup in its holder, then snapped the lid shut, "you pick which size cup you want and there you go, it makes one cup of coffee for you. Which is perfect for me because I live alone." He smiled, "well at least I used to."

"Why does this seem like a total waste? It only makes one cup of coffee out of one of those little plastic cups?" She tried to pretend it wasn't like the coolest invention ever.

"There's not that much coffee in the little cup anyway. Plus, you can make tea or hot chocolate. And if you really play with it, you can get it to make iced stuff. You put the ice in your cup and there's a setting to where it won't make your drink boiling hot."

"Hmm, weird." She observed as he took the full cup from the coffee pot, "so, I just put the plastic cup in the top and push the button? That's it?"

"Pretty much." He put his mug on the counter and went to the refrigerator for milk, "the cups are in the cabinet right above." He loaded his cup with sugar and walked away.

Stephanie opened the cabinet and found a couple of coffee mugs that said World's Greatest Uncle, both with a different design, "you have like a brother or a sister?" She grabbed one of them and put it into the coffee brewer.

"I have both, my sister has kids, and I'm their favorite uncle." He smiled to himself, "I'm so awesome that even though they see my brother more often, I'm still they're favorite." He sat in his recliner in the living room, he was barely awake and trying to drink his coffee fast, "is that hideaway bed comfortable?"

"I guess so. It's a bed, it doesn't make a difference to me." She sat across from him, thinking, "how did you sleep?"

"Great I guess." He smiled, "I take my Ambien at nine and I get up usually at seven. That's ten hours. Didn't wake up once." He started to sip on his coffee, "and my bed is made for me and my back problems so I sleep pretty good, when I do sleep."

"You take Ambien? What for?" She gave him a stare down, "maybe if you drank more water and less caffeinated stuff like soda and coffee, you wouldn't need to take sleeping medication."

"Shut up. You're drinking coffee right now too." He scoffed, squinting his eyes at her, "this is what I'm talking about, you make bitchy little comments at me, I hate that."

"Paul, its seven in the morning and I drink one cup of coffee. You drink coffee from when you get to work, all the way until noon. Then you drink soda, Dr. Pepper to be exact, which is one of the worst sodas when it comes to caffeine. I wasn't trying to make a bitchy comment to you, I was just stating why you probably have to take Ambien." She put her cup in the coffee table and sighed, "and why do you have a bed made for your back problems, what back problems?"

"Cause you aren't the only one whose had to deal with the after-effects of a car accident. Before I worked for you and could afford a safety-tested car, I used to drive a really small piece of shit Toyota, and at the end of its life, I was at a stop light when some guy hit me from behind, I never heard brakes squeal or anything, he just hit me, doing 40."

Stephanie would have never guess, "really?" She once again looked him up and down, "is that why you have problems sleeping?"

"I don't take Ambien every single night, I only take it when I'm stressed out. If I'm stressed and I don't take it, I watch TV until midnight and when I try to go to bed, I'll end up lying there and thinking. When I finally snap out of my thoughts, I look at the clock and its almost two in the morning. That usually affects you because I haven't really been allowed to miss work unless its an emergency, and even then, I think I would have to be dead to be allowed to miss work."

She thought, "you've stayed home before. Don't make it seem like I never give you the day off." She bit her lip, realizing the last day she could remember giving him the day off was yesterday.

"Oh, yeah, I think we had a big argument when my dad was in the hospital for his heart surgery, if my mom hadn't called into the office crying for me, I'm pretty sure you would have made me work." He stood up, "I'll bet you don't even remember that."

She sat pondering over what he said, "maybe I don't, but after this, I'll give you as much time off as you want. I don't care." She felt bad, "now that I'm thinking about it, I kinda do remember, I'm sorry about that. Was your dad okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine now." He rinsed his cup in the sink, "he had to get his pacemaker replaced, but he's doing great," he changed the subject, "anyway, I'm going to take a shower, so we can go pick up all of your stuff."

"Well not all, its just the rest, I have a storage locker in Agoura Hills with all my stuff. I couldn't keep all my stuff in my mom's little house."

"You make loads of money and your mom has a small house? Well that doesn't seem right. Just how much stuff is in this storage locker? Cause I have the Mercedes and another car, but, not a whole lot of room you know."

"Its mostly clothes and stuff like that." She scrunched up her nose, "what other car do you have? Do you think Shawn would help us? I know he has a truck."

"Shawn, help you? Yeah right, he hates you more than I do. I just want you to know that I did take Shawn with me to get Madison yesterday, and the whole ride there he was referring to you as a bitch, while I was trying to explain how you weren't a bitch, I couldn't come up with very many counterattacks."

"Thanks." She slouched down into the chair, "so, what other car do you have? How big is it?"

"I have a truck like Shawn's. He has a shell on it so his will hold more stuff though." He scratched his head, "you take the Mercedes, I'll take the truck, I'll see if I can talk to Shawn, but with him, I don't know what he's gonna think of all this. But obviously, you need to be living here and we need to be quote, 'in love', soon so it looks like we aren't faking this, like we are." He started further down the hallway, "I'll be out in like, 20 minutes."

"Okay." She smiled, still totally surprised he was doing this for her. She heard the water turn on and started to look around, seeing a pair of framed pictures on the TV stand, the first and smaller one was of four kids seeming to range from ages three to thirteen, the bigger picture was of him and two other adults who looked to be around the same age as him, "these must be his nieces and nephews, and probably him with his brother and sister." She held back another smile and put the pictures back next to the TV.


	5. Five

Stephanie followed Paul outside to his garage, she could smell the strong scent of his cologne. She remembered telling herself that the only cologne she could stand was the one Randy used to wear, but the smell of this new cologne was fresh, and seemed to have a calming effect on her. She found herself wanting to smell him more.

"What are you doing?" He looked down at her, "why are you looking at me like that?" He didn't make eye contact when he gave her the keys to his car, trying not to make the moment seem too awkward.

"Huh? I was um, thinking, that's all. I can smell your cologne or whatever it is and I was trying to figure out what it was. I've smelled it before." She took the keys and stuffed them in her pocket to put Madison in the backseat.

"I'm guessing you smell it everyday in the office, when I'm there." He cocked on eyebrow at her and nodded, "where does your mom live?" He twirled his truck keys on his finger, "or actually, where should we go first, your mom's, or your storage locker?"

"Well I can go to my mom's, and you can to talk to Shawn for me." She closed the door, "or better yet, why don't you call him, things are different over the phone. He can't really yell that he doesn't understand why you're doing this if you can just hang up."

"Oh, like you do to me?" He laughed, "I think I would rather just tell Shawn in person, it makes me wonder what he's gonna think of this." He walked to his truck and opened the door, "oh, I gotta clean some of this up, hold on." He reached over and into the truck, leaving his backside in plain view.

"Can you trust Shawn with a secret? She opened the driver door of the Mercedes, she looked at him to just see his rear-end as he was hunched over the seat, grabbing trash from the passenger side, "um, I was just thinking, maybe, if you trust him enough you could tell him the truth."

"Yeah, well I don't know about that yet. I haven't even thought about how I'm gonna explain this to my own mother. Cause with something like this, I don't trust her." He carried an armful of trash to a garbage can.

"Your mom? Why don't you trust your mom? What's she gonna do?" She though about what he had said earlier, "okay, so maybe she doesn't like me a whole lot, as you mentioned earlier, but what do you think she would really do?"

He smiled and went back to the truck, "Stephanie, she knows I don't like you a whole lot, and that you make my life a living hell sometimes. And by making my life a living hell, I make her life hell too. She would probably do everything in her power to get you deported if I told her the truth." He opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water, "you want one? There's soda in here too."

"Sure, I'll have a water." She chewed on her lip, "okay, so I'll help you with sealing with your mom then. Don't tell her anything yet. I'll come up with something for you to tell her." She took the bottle and sat in his car, "my mom lives off of Thousand Oaks boulevard, like, right before the big shopping center."

"Yeah, okay, I know where that is." He smiled, "how about you go see your mom while I go to the office and talk with Shawn. Just tell your mom I'll be there eventually. If Shawn doesn't strangle me." He climbed up in the truck and shut the door. Then rolled the window down, "be careful getting out of here." The engine started up and he backed down the driveway into the street, she followed him around until her freeway exit came up.

"Wait, what?" Shawn yelled, dropping everything he had in his hands, "you're marrying her? Since when?" He was in shock, "so what if she was just sent back to Canada, who cares about her!"

Paul stood in Shawn's office with his head down, he walked to the door and slammed it closed, "Shawn, if anything, she would go back and none of us would have a job. How does that sound for you? What are you so worried about? She's living with me now, in my second bedroom, you don't even have to deal with her."

"Of all people, she's always treated you the worst. I just don't know why you would do something like this for her. I can't believe you and her are getting married. She doesn't even deserve to get married to someone. Cause all she's gonna do is make her husband kill himself."

"Alright, come on Shawn. Just stop it." Paul sighed, "I know that's how you feel about her but that's enough. Her and I have a deal, she's nice to me, I give her a place to live and pretend I'm her husband, and if she chooses to be a bitch to me, she goes to Canada and I keep Madison. Madison is the only reason she wants to stay here, okay? I'm doing this because it's already not fair for Maddy to have to grow up without a father, but to not have a mother for the first few years of her life? I mean, wouldn't you?" He looked away, knowing Shawn would probably say no.

"Maybe for someone other than Stephanie." Shawn got down on his knees and picked up all the paperwork he had dropped, "so why are you telling me all this?" He waited in silence, "don't tell me I have to help someone."

Paul rolled his eyes, "yeah, you do. First of all, you are the only one who knows the truth. To everyone else, Stephanie and I are madly in love and want to get married as soon as we can." He felt uncomfortable with saying that but went on anyway, "and if you tell anyone the truth, that I'm only marrying her for immigration, I will come to your house and beat you within an inch of your life. This doesn't come out of this room, okay?"

"Fine." Shawn stared up at him, "I won't tell anyone, but what about Rebecca? She knows that we don't like Stephanie that much and she's probably going to be really confused as to why you're all of a sudden getting married to her. Am I allowed to tell her?"

"No, I just told you not to tell anyone." Paul exhaled, "not even Rebecca. Because if you tell her, she might tell someone else and shit gets around."

Shawn didn't like the thought of lying to his wife, "well alright, I won't say anything to her, if she asks I'll just say it's a surprise to me." He stood back up, "you said I had to help someone, what do I have to do?"

"Stephanie has all her stuff in a storage locker, we need you to help us get it all to my house. She's at her mom's house right now with my Mercedes, and I have my truck, just help us please."

"Will she be nice to me too?" He put the papers on his desk, "wait, you need my help now? Does this mean I get the day off?"

Paul grinned, "why yes Shawn, it does, look at it this way, I don't care what Stephanie says, if you want something, just let me know, and I can make it happen. If you keep our secret, and help us out, I can make things happen."

"Ask her if I can get a raise, cause I haven't gotten a raise in three years. And I might need next Wednesday off, because its me and Rebecca's anniversary."

"How about you get Wednesday and Thursday off, so then you can sleep it off the next day. I think I can make that happen for you." He nodded, "its like September, who has that much tax work to do right now? I was thinking of closing the office for today. How does that sound?"

Shawn smiled and followed as Paul opened the door and walked down the hallway to his own office, "what are you doing? Are you really going to let everyone have the day off?"

"You know what? Yeah, I am, considering yesterday was one of the first days I got the day off on over two years. It's about time these people get a break." Paul turned his computer on and waited as it booted up, "close the door, I don't want anyone coming in here asking questions, when this computer is ready, I'm gonna send out a message to everyone's computer. I'm just going to put that Stephanie isn't feeling well and she doesn't feel like coming in today, and since she's not coming, there's no reason for everyone else to be sitting around here in the heat doing nothing." The room was quiet except for the keys clicking under Paul's fingertips, when he was finished typing, he reread his note, then slammed his index finger on the enter key, "done, now I'm going to go to Stephanie's mom's house and I will call you when we're gonna go to her storage locker, stay here and make sure you lock the door when you leave." He got up and slammed the office door behind him


	6. Six

Paul pulled up in front of a house with the address Stephanie had texted to him, he sighed and thought why he was doing this for her, like Shawn had asked, he shrugged and got out of the truck. He was coming up the front steps when Stephanie quickly opened the door and slammed it behind her, "what went on at the office?"

"Shawn is going to help you. And I said you weren't feeling well and everyone is leaving early. What's it to you?" He saw the front door open again, "I was going to ask about your mom, are you going to tell her the truth?"

"Paul, hi, how are you?" Before Stephanie could answer him, her mother Linda came running outside, "I can't believe what Stephanie told me today." She hugged him, "I guess its hard to not fall in love with someone who you've been working with for nine years." There was his answer.

"Yeah." He let out a small laugh, "I've been fine, how are you?" The last time he'd seen Linda was at least eight years ago, when he had just started working for Stephanie, "I haven't seen you in forever."

"It has been forever. And this is the news I get, you and Stephanie are getting married, I'm so excited." She couldn't stand still, "so she said you guys have been together for a few months and she's just now moving in? You guys must really want this on the down-low."

"We do." Stephanie stood against Paul's arm, "but now that we're getting married, its okay that some people know." She smiled, feeling uneasy being that close to Paul, but then she got another whiff of cologne, and it made her lean farther towards him.

He slightly moved his arm around her, not really knowing what to do, "yeah. Well we'd better get the stuff in the car," he looked down and squinted, "I have Shawn on our side too." He whispered, just out of Linda's hearing, "I just have to call him when we're ready."

She nodded, "thanks." Once her mom turned her back towards them she swiftly jumped away from Paul, pretending to be disgusted, "I have only a few things here, but I have a lot more in the locker."

He rolled his eyes and followed her inside, greeted by an older man, "you must be Stephanie's new fiancé, I'm Jack, Linda's husband and Stephanie's step-father." Jack held his hand out, "nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Paul shook his hand, "yes I'm Paul, Steph's new fiancé." He turned around to get a box thrown into his arms, "oh, okay, which car should this go into, honey?" He stuttered, smirking at her face when he said 'honey'.

"How about you put it in the Mercedes, Paul." She sneered, nearly pushing him out the front door, "honey? You called me honey?" She followed at his heels all the way down to the cars, "you don't call me that."

"Whatever. Just be glad that after everything Shawn said to me, I didn't change my mind about this." He shoved the box into the trunk and walked away.

"Hi Shawn." Stephanie smiled as she got out of Paul's car at the storage locker, "how are you? I'll bet having the day off today was pretty nice." She noticed he was showing no emotion so she became a little nervous.

"Yes it was." He cleared his throat, "Paul must have forgot to tell you, I know Stephanie." He nodded, waiting for her to get what he meant.

"What? What do you mean you know?" She opened the trunk of the Mercedes, then turned to him again, "wait, you know?" She made a hand gesture back and forth between her and Paul.

He nodded, "Paul told me. And I promised him that I would keep my mouth shut, I'm not even gonna say anything to my own wife, which I think is wrong, but hey, who cares what I think." He stared at her, "so how'd you talk him into this?"

"I was told that I can't work in America, and if I was out of work, he would be also. He doesn't see it that way, but I do." She crossed her arms, "he didn't say he was going to tell you." She pushed a couple numbers into the keypad next to the big orange door, "he was supposed to be over here after me. I don't know where he went." She looked around, his truck nowhere to be seen.

A few minutes later, Paul pulled in front of the gate and entered a code into the pad beside him. He waited as the gate slowly rolled open, then sped through the opening. He parked behind Shawn's truck and shut his engine off, sitting back in the seat and shoving a handful of fries into his mouth. Shawn poked his head out of the doorway and looked back at the truck, "there's Paul. It looks like he just got himself some food." He came out and opened the door, "what the hell? You get to eat and nobody else does?"

"Hey, how do you know I didn't get you anything?" Paul handed Shawn a Burger King bag, "here's your lunch, I'll just pretend I didn't get Stephanie anything." He got out and stood in front of the door, sipping on the straw of his soda, "need help?"

"Where were you?" She saw the cup and bit her lip, "oh," she leaned over and grabbed a box, "looks like you were hungry."

He pulled the straw away and frowned, "you aren't gonna get upset and ask why I didn't get you anything?" He handed her his cup, "want some soda?"

"Not your soda." She took the cup and handed the box to him, "this could go in your truck I guess. It's taped shut."

He turned around and went back to his truck, "anyway, if you're hungry, I brought you some food, but if not, I could eat again, either way its not a problem." He snatched his cup from her and took another drink.

"I'll eat after we get all my stuff in the cars." She turned to walk back to the locker but he touched her shoulder, "what are you doing?" She faced him again, an annoyed expression on her face.

"How about you just go eat and leave this to Shawn and I. We'll quickly put everything in the cars while you just sit with Madison and eat. Your food is on the passenger's seat in my truck, and your drink, which I remembered to get you Diet Coke, its in the cupholder in the backseat." He smiled and gently pushed her towards the truck.

"Okay." She smiled back at him, "Shawn, Paul just said that you're gonna help him get all my stuff out of there, I'll sit back there with Madison." She sat in the backseat of the Mercedes and opened the bag, she usually would never eat at Burger King, and Paul knew that, but he apparently also knew that if she had to eat there, she would only eat the chicken sandwich, without tomatoes, and with extra lettuce. She pulled the sandwich out of the bag and unwrapped it, finding no tomatoes. She took a drink and watched Madison as she slightly moved in her sleep, "I can't believe I'm doing this to him. And the fact that he agreed amazes me." She turned and looked at Paul and Shawn through the tinted windows.

She waved, and waited for one of them to wave back, but when they didn't, she knew they couldn't see her through the window. She leaned forward and opened the center console in the front, seeing a couple packages of cigarettes, and two lighters, "he smokes?" She asked herself, "since when?" She noticed that out of three boxes, only one was open, and the open one was two short of being full. She slammed the console closed and thought, "I wonder if I stress him out that much. He takes Ambien, and smokes?" She was still hunched over the console between the front seats, she turned and smelled the leather seat next to her, "well it doesn't smell like cigarettes at all in here." She considered taking them just to see if he would notice, but instead, she sat back in her seat and finished her soda.

"Shawn, why do you keep opening the boxes and going through her stuff? Stop it." Paul held his back, "that's just weird, stop."

"What if she has like a gun or something in here? How do we even know Randy actually got in a car accident?" Shawn looked at the end of Paul's car to make sure he wasn't being watched, "maybe she killed him cause he said she was mean. If she killed him, she wouldn't have any problem killing you too."

"Shut up. She didn't shoot Randy, trust me. I know more details of his car accident than you would believe. She wouldn't kill me anyway, she's gotta be married to someone who lives here. We aren't even married yet."

Shawn put the box down and stared at him, "you're really have to marry her? Like, this is really for real?" He folded the box shut, sighing, "I still don't believe this."

"What? I said her and I are getting married, that's that. Yeah this is really real. Her and I have to get married, like, soon. I just don't know how the heck I'm gonna break the news to my parents, let alone my mother."

"Your mom's gonna kill you. Why don't you just tell her the truth, that you 'have' to marry her for one reason only, she'd probably be a lot more understanding of that, even though, maybe not. I remember when your dad was having heart surgery and Stephanie there, wouldn't let you go to him. I'll bet your mom will bring that up."

Paul thought, "I can't tell her the truth, cause I know she would do anything in her power to tell Immigration all Stephanie's plans and get her sent away. Steph and I have a deal, this is all just for Madison. So she can have at least one real parent, after Randy died. This wouldn't be happening of Randy were still alive, okay?"

"It probably would, cause eventually Randy would have gotten fed up with her and all her bitchiness and probably left her and Madison. Plus, you wanna know what I heard? I heard her and Randy weren't even together when he died. They split up and he was drunk because of it, and that's how he crashed." He picked up a couple boxes and carried them to his truck, giving Paul a smirk on his way.


	7. Seven

"Thank you Shawn. Thank you so much for your help." Stephanie smiled while all Shawn did was nod towards her and walk back to his truck. She bit her lip and turned to Paul, "so, I was in your car while I was eating earlier, you smoke?"

"Smoke? Smoke what?" He gave her a puzzled look, "oh, cigarettes?" He paused, "why were you looking through my car?"

"I wasn't purposely looking through your car, I just happened to open it and there's like, three boxes of cigarettes in there. You know smoking isn't good for you, my uncle died of lung cancer."

Paul squinted his eyes, "don't you go telling me my smoking habits are unhealthy, the only reason I have them is because when Shawn and I hang out, I sometimes have one, or two. But I don't smoke like he does, he's at a pack a day."

"Well you shouldn't at all," she huffed, "you aren't allowed to smoke around Madison, that's all I'm going to say."

He rolled his eyes, "yeah, cause that's exactly what I want to do, I want to go around smoking in front of babies. All I said is I have a few, every couple of weekends, that's it." He shook his head, "maybe I do it cause you're always stressing me out, just like this!" He yelled, then covered his mouth when Madison started to fuss in her carseat.

"You woke her up." Stephanie punched him in his chest, "damnit, don't raise your voice next time." She groaned when Maddy started to cry, "you know what I should do, I should make you go get her and coddle her until she stop's crying, but this time, I won't."

"Why should I got get her? She's not even my baby, you moved in my house, sorry if I raise my voice when I get pissed off." He watched her pick Madison up, who instantly stopped crying once she was in her mother's arms, "see, she's fine, she'll get used to it." He looked around, "my phone's ringing, I'll be right back." He walked away after she nodded.

"Hello?" He held the phone to his ear, the number had said private, and he usually knew who it was, "hi mom, how are you?"

"You're home huh? That's surprising." She cleared her throat, "so I heard something a little while ago, you know what I'm talking about?"

He knew, but pretended to play dumb, "what? I don't know what your talking about mom. What did you hear?" He sat on his bed and sighed.

"You're getting married. My own son is getting married and I got to hear it from someone else. Shawn posted it on Facebook." She sighed, "for nine years, that Stephanie McMahon has put you through hell and you're marrying her?" She sounded upset, "I don't believe it."

"Mom, please, so what if I'm marrying her, she put me through hell for all those years, then, all of a sudden, we started to like each other. And now we're getting married. If you can't accept that, I'm sorry." With every person he told, he dug himself deeper and deeper into a hole, "I don't know what you want me to tell you."

She exhaled sadly again, "I'm happy that you're finally getting married, although I wish it were to someone different, someone who isn't a witch."

He grumbled, "stop it, you and Shawn are alike, so what if she was mean all those years past, its fine now, and we love each other, get over it." He hated lying to his mom, and having to sound so harsh.

"Fine. I'm happy for you to have finally found someone, your father and I just hope that we're invited to the wedding, whenever that is." There was a long silence, "you are having your family at your wedding aren't you?"

"Yeah, don't worry mom, I just haven't decided when it's gonna be, or who's coming. I don't want people left out, but I don't want a lot of people there. I just want like you and dad, and my closest family. And Stephanie's closest family, and maybe Shawn and Rebecca."

"Well that's fine honey. You know you have to have Laurie there, and the kids. Those kids aren't gonna let you get married without them there."

He smiled, "I know, they'll be invited. Stephanie and I want to do this our way, and as soon as we possibly can, so I'll give it about two weeks. I know its unbelievably soon, we just want to do it though, you know?"

She clapped her hands together, "I'm so excited Paul, you're finally getting married, I've been waiting for this, and I always believed that as long as you worked for Stephanie, you would never get out and find somebody. I can't wait, I'm actually glad you're having it as soon as possible."

"I'll call you and give you an exact date though. I'm happy too mom." He closed his eyes and blew out a sigh, "I have to go, I'll call you tomorrow, I love you."

"I love you too honey. Talk to you tomorrow, bye." She hung up, when the phone clicked, he hit end on his phone and tossed it onto his dresser.

"I can't believe it, I have to be married in two weeks to a woman I don't even like. What the hell is wrong with me?" He closed his bedroom door and unbuttoned his shirt, then ripped it off and threw it on his bed. He looked up when Stephanie knocked on his door, "yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a second? We need to discuss this whole 'getting married' thing. It needs to happen pretty soon, and I don't know what to do about it. I think we should at least talk about it, in a calm manner."

He opened his door, "I can stay calm if you can." He caught her looking him over, "what?" He noticed she was wearing a small, black tank top and tight purple sweatpants.

"Nothing." She tried to focus her eyes on his, "I can be calm too." She turned away and took a step down the hallway, then looked back at him again, "Maddy fell back asleep after I fed her, she's in my room in her crib now." She kept herself from stuttering at the sight of him in his undershirt.

"I told my mom two weeks." He followed her to the living room, "is that soon enough? I also said I didn't want a lot of people there. I don't care who you invite, but my parents are coming, and my sister with her kids."

She nodded, "well my mom and Jack, and then Jack has two sons, my step-brothers Ryan and Kevin. And that's it for me."

He nodded, "that's like, nobody Steph. I'm inviting Shawn and Rebecca, so I'll at least have one friend there."

She shrugged, "I'm not worried about it. If I wanted my friends there, I would invite my friends. But I just don't. I don't want to lie to them too. I'm already making you lie to your friends and family. I feel horrible for just that."

"Oh you do? Well if its any consolation, my mom only called cause she found out from Shawn, who took it upon himself to post a congratulations to me on Facebook. Its everywhere now."

"Damnit." She threw her head back on the couch, "well my friends will just have to find out there won't they?" She took out her phone and fell silent, "we have to put it on Facebook then. I'm putting I'm engaged to you."

"We aren't even friends on Facebook." He blankly stared at her, "you're friends with Shawn, and I'm friends with Shawn, but we aren't friends. Cause my Facebook is my personal place where I can say things about certain people in private."

"Too bad. Go on your computer and add me so we can put on Facebook that we are engaged." She stood up, "your computer is in my room so don't think I won't go on it and do it for you."

He got up, "go ahead and try, I have a password you know. I'll be in the kitchen while you try and figure it out."

"Fine. I'll just use your computer and go on mine then." She squinted her eyes at him before she went to her room. Once the computer was on, she went to Facebook and noticed his email address and password were saved in to two boxes. She hit login and deviously stared at his page. She changed his relationship status and added herself as a friend, while on her phone, confirmed his friend request and listed herself engaged to him. It was all done.

She logged off and turned the computer back off, then came out to the kitchen, the same smirk plastered on her face, "did you give up already?" He looked up from his sandwich, "what did you do?"

"Everyone on Facebook now knows we're gonna get married. Your computer saves your email and password dummy. It was way easier than I thought it was gonna be."

He turned around and opened the refrigerator door, "my sister is gonna call me. I know it. If she hasn't already called my mom to gossip about this."

She stared at his back, seeing some sort of tattoo on his shoulder peeking out from behind his tank top, "what is your tattoo of?"

He quickly spun back around and cleared his throat, "huh? Oh, it's just my sister's kids names." He continued to just make his sandwich.

"Why do you have your sister's kid's names on you? I'm not saying it's weird, but yeah. It's one thing to have your own kid's names, but someone else's?"

He put the bottle of mustard on the counter and sighed, "well I obviously don't have kids. My sister's kids are the closest I'll probably get to having kids."

She glared at him, wide-eyed, "what? What does that even mean? Don't you want your own kids?" She bit her lips together, "when you say that, do you mean you don't want kids, or that you think you just will never have them?"

"Well, as long as I'm married to you, I won't have them, yes Madison might be considered my step-daughter, but in reality, she's Randy's daughter. Plus, I never really thought of having my own, and I like the concept that I can have my sister's kids for a period of time, and then give them back to her."

She was still astonished, "I wanted Madison so bad, like, I wanted to have kids the second I turned 18. But I hadn't met the right guy yet and then I was finally happy once I met Randy, but yeah, looks like I'll only have her."


	8. Eight

"Where are you going?" Stephanie sat on the couch, looking up as Paul went from his bedroom to the kitchen, "why are you dressed so early?"

"I have to go to Walmart." He put a sweatshirt on and zipped it up, "need anything?" He pulled one sleeve up and checked his watch, "I have to be back by ten though."

"Can I go? What do you need there?" She stood up and put her hands on her waist, "I'm dressed, just let me get Madison in her shoes." She went over to the crib and picked her daughter up, "I don't even know what I'm gonna wear today."

He nodded and put his arms down, "I need a pair of black pants and a button-up shirt. My mom's gonna expect me to be wearing a tux you know." He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying not to look at Stephanie's backside as she put shoes on Madison's feet.

"So I'll look for a dress. But, at Walmart I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna find a nice 'white' dress. I don't see why I have to wear white anyway. I mean, I have a baby, technically that disqualifies me from wearing white."

"I don't care what you wear. I'm sure you have a dress or something, it doesn't matter what color it is." He looked at his watch again, "come on, we have to go or we'll be late."

"Paul, our wedding isn't until like, six. It's only eight in the morning. What are you talking about we're gonna be late?" She put Madison in her carseat and buckled her in, "alright, let's go then."

He opened the garage door and pushed the unlock button on the keypad, "the Mercedes is low on gas, we're taking the truck today." He opened the garage door, "you need that platform thing out of the car don't you? The thing that her carseat sit on top of."

"Yeah." She opened the door and bent over to get it out of the Mercedes, "I have a navy blue dress I could wear, I just need some shoes to go with it. Do we have to go to Walmart? Why don't we go to like, the mall or something?" She closed the truck door after buckling the carseat in.

He grumbled, "the closest mall is in San Fernando, that's like, over an hour away. Walmart is only like, 45 minutes from here." He looked at his watch again.

"I'm not gonna find shoes at Walmart." She looked down at his wrist, "stop looking at your watch. We are not going to be late. Just calm down."

"Stop arguing with me and get in the car then." He sighed as she walked around the back of the truck, "fine, we'll go to the mall. But I don't know why you need shoes. I'm pretty sure you have a pair in the five boxes I helped you put in the house." He jumped in his seat and slammed the door, "if you have a blue dress, why wouldn't you have shoes to go with it?" He started the truck and turned the AC on, then reached up to the visor for his glasses. He frustratedly put them on and stared in the rear-view mirror to back the truck out of the garage.

"Because I bought it for something, and didn't end up wearing it. I think it might still have the tags on it. I hope it still fits me." She glanced up at him for second, "wait, you wear glasses? Since when? Are you like, that blind?"

"No, I'm not that blind. I just have to wear them when I drive, cause, the signs are a problem sometimes. Go ahead, make fun of me for wearing glasses, Shawn did when I first got them, and as a matter of fact, he still does." He pushed the button to close the garage door and drive away from his house, "they aren't that bad though."

"I've seen people who look bad with glasses. And you aren't one of them." She refrained from saying he looked 'good'. She stared up at him out of the corner of her eye, he looked more than good, he was hot with glasses on, "are you gonna eventually need glasses all the time?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, "I have reading glasses, I just choose not to wear them because I don't like them." He adjusted his glasses and turned the radio on, "why are you looking at me?"

She widened her eyes, "what? How'd you know I was looking at you?" She ratted herself out, "I wasn't looking at you, I was looking at your glasses." She covered her mouth and looked out her window.

"I always know when you're looking at me. I get a weird vibe when you look at me." He turned around and changed lanes on the freeway, "its like I can feel you staring."

She smiled, "you can 'feel' it huh?" She watched out the window as they flew past cars, "are you nervous? My stomach feels like it has butterflies."

He shook his head, "not really. I feel like I should be more worried about this than I actually am." He looked at his speed on the dash, "all you need is shoes right? Nothing else?"

"Maybe. Unless I find something I like better. I'm not even sure the dress I have even fits, cause I bought it when I was pregnant with Madison and was just barely starting to show. It might, because I'm still kinda fat."

He glanced over at her, "you aren't fat. Shut up. You were fatter before you had Madison." He bit his tongue, "don't take that in a bad way. I probably shouldn't have said it like that."

"Thanks." She laughed, "no, I know I was kinda bigger before. And since I've had her, I've worked out a little bit more and lost more than just the baby weight." She looked over at him, his stomach was a little big, but she wouldn't call him fat or anything.

"So you need to look for a dress now? And shoes. You need a whole outfit, like me." He sighed, "so tonight, we have to be at this place like, two hours in advance. If we leave any later than 3:45, I'll be pissed. That's all I'm gonna say about that." He reached forward and turned the AC up another notch.

She rolled her eyes and nodded, "oh my God, I just thought about this." She covered her mouth and pretended to gag, "I have to kiss you in front of our families." She groaned, "its gonna be like, a little tiny kiss on the lips, that's it. Don't expect anything more than that."

"Oh, I won't be, you can trust me on that one." He scrunched his nose up, "ugh." He looked back at the road and they sat in an awkward silence.

"Should I dress Madison up for tomorrow? I'm thinking I want to, but I don't want it to be all weird." She looked in the backseat, "maybe I'll look for something at the mall. I should be able to find something, you think?"

"Sure." He moved his head up, "so this is what's gonna happen, we get married at Malibu Bluffs, then, our reception is at the Malibu Country Inn. I can't even believe we're spending all this money for a fake wedding."

"Just shut up about it. This only has to be for a few months. Then, after I finish my paperwork and see what Immigration says, then, we'll get divorced, and it'll all be done with." She looked out the window again, "plus, its not just all your money, its mine too you know."

"I know, its just, weird to me. Like, I can't believe we're telling all these lies and spending so much money for a huge lie so you can stay here. I'm sorry but, all this is making me a little bit uncomfortable."

Her eyes burned through him, "don't even say you're getting cold feet about this. I swear to God, after all the planning we've done and all the people we've told, don't you dare say you don't want to get married. You don't even know what I will do to you if you say that."

He backed himself against his door, "no, I wasn't going to say that. All I said is it was making me uncomfortable, I'm not gonna back out, don't worry." He pulled off the freeway and slowed down, "jeez, you think I would do that? I think you have some serious trust issues. I said I would marry you for Madison, it would make me a shitty person to just walk out on you like that." He glanced at her a few time, "wait, you threatened me. What would you do to me?"

"I said you don't want to know. And how are you just gonna say I have trust issues? I don't have trust issues, I'm totally fine."

"Okay." He pulled into a parking stall and shut the truck off, "we're here. Do you need me to come with you? Cause I have my own things to do, like I planned to do at Walmart." He got out and closed the door, "you're used to carrying a baby around, you don't need me."

They walked in through the same door, "I'll call you if I need anything." She went one way and he turned in the opposite direction, walking away from her.


	9. Nine

"You may now, kiss your bride Mr. Levesque." The priest nodded towards them, smiling.

Paul and Stephanie's eyes met, and they were hesitant for a second, then he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers and putting his hand on her back. She didn't know what to do for a second, then put her hand on his cheeks, "okay." She pushed up and away, blushing. She took his arm and they walked back down the aisle towards Paul's decorated truck, "boy am I glad that's over. Now we have the reception and food, and then this part is over."

"Food." Paul started the truck and put it in gear, "I would love to eat something right now. But I'm afraid if I do, the button on my pants might pop off." He reached down and unbuttoned his black slacks.

She looked forward, away from him, "what are you doing? Why are you unbuttoning your pants?"

"They're too tight." He sighed, "I think I should've gotten the bigger pair." He waved as they drove off, "the guy at Penney's fitted me for these, but my waist is like, a little bigger than these, and smaller than the big ones."

"Why didn't you just get the bigger ones and wear a belt to keep them up?" She put her head against the seat, "what size pants do you wear normally?"

"I wear a 40-34." He pulled his tie loose, "ugh, I hate wearing ties, I hate having to button the top button on my shirts. I feel like I'm choking, and my face is turns red, almost purple." He ripped the tie from around his neck and threw it into the backseat.

She watched as his face turned back to it's normal color, she was almost tempted to say he looked good in a tie, but only smiled, "well, it can't be as bad as wearing heels for three hours, but I don't complain." She reached over and unfastened the second button on his shirt, "okay, that looks much better, if you aren't planning on putting the tie back on. Are you?"

"Do I have to? I hate wearing ties Stephanie, you would know, I don't ever wear ties at work." He rubbed his neck, "do I have like, indentions from the shirt?"

She shook her head, "so where did you get the wedding rings at?" She looked at hers, it glistened orange in the streetlight.

"Oh, speaking of that, open this console and get the bag out of there. I forgot to give that to you before the wedding. I figured something cheap at the mall is a lot better than something out of a 50-cent machine."

"What is it?" She opened the little bag and pulled out a box, inside the box sat another ring, this time, it was bigger and extremely glittery, "Paul, what's this for?"

He glanced over at her, "its your engagement ring, duh. Remember, we're trying to make this look real? So I went out and got you like, a cheap engagement ring. You like it?"

She nodded, "it's pretty." She took it out of the box and slid it right down her finger on top of her matching wedding band, "they go together, you so planned that didn't you?" She stared at for a second, "how did you know what size to get this in? It fits perfectly," she carefully examined it, "and it's a princess cut stone, that's my favorite."

"You know all those times you talked to me about your problems, and I just sat there and pretended I was listening just so I wouldn't get yelled at? Yeah, I was listening 99 percent of the time, I just didn't like you knowing I listened. I pretty much know everything about you." He laughed, "oh, and I stole one of your rings from your room while I was on my computer the other day, that's how I know your ring size, I saw you wearing this one ring on your ring finger so I decided it that way."

She kept herself from giving him a happy smile, "did you at least put my ring back?" She twisted the bigger engagement ring all the way around her finger, "this ring is really pretty though."

"Let me see it." He held out his hand, she took it off her finger and handed it to him, "your ring finger is about the same size as my pinky finger. I just tried your other ring on and went from there." He slid it on, "see?" He gave it back, "I never took your ring out of the house."

She put it back on and smiled, thinking to herself that Paul would make the perfect husband for someone else, he was sweet and caring, but, their relationship was already ruined. They bickered constantly and were mean to each other, and after all the hell she put him through, it would just be weird to actually start to like him.

"We're here." He turned the truck off and pulled the keys out, "okay, I just wanted to tell you something." He pulled the visor down and smoothed his hair down, "my family can get a little crazy, and, if you feel uncomfortable and want to leave, just tell me."

"Alright." She nodded, "you know, I really liked talking to your sister. She's really nice, I can't believe she offered to take Madison for the night just because it was supposed to be 'special' for us. She didn't have to do that, I have a night of peace."

"Peace, yeah, you go with that one." He opened the door and jumped down, "my family doesn't know what peace is. We are not a 'peaceful' family." He slammed the door and went around the help her out.

She took his hand and stepped down, "peaceful for me, is being able to take a break from my daughter. I don't get to do that very often."

"Don't worry, Laurie's got you covered on that one. After her last kid, she got her tubes tied and can't have any more, even though she says she wishes she could have one more. But that's what she said every time she had a kid, one more." He closed her door, "she would take care of Madison whenever you ask." He pushed the lock on the remote in his hand and walked inside with his new wife, "people will probably start coming in like, a half hour."

The color theme she chose was everywhere, all the tablecloths and flowers were purple, while the napkins and other various trim pieces were silver, "its beautiful in here." She smiled, her eyes starting to water a little, too bad the wedding was fake.

He nodded and opened the door to the side kitchen, "I need a drink, how about you?" He looked around the little room, "oh look, here's the margarita mix, let's find the tequila." He rummaged through a cabinet, "what did you put on your side of the menu?"

"Wine." She opened another cabinet, "I'm guessing you put margaritas on yours?" She watched him pull a bottle of tequila down, "what are you doing? You're gonna start drinking right now?"

"I'm not going to start drinking, I don't drink like that, all I'm gonna do is have one margarita. Then I'll be done." He took both bottles and went back to the kitchen, "you want one?"

She contemplated saying no, "sure, I'll have one." He looked around again and pulled out a blender, "but don't make mine that strong."

He put the green mix with some ice in the blender, then added the alcohol. He poured the slush into two cups and handed one to her, "there you go, enjoy." He took his cup and was about to take a sip, when he smiled, "what?"

She had been staring at him but as soon as he made eye contact back with her, he looked down, "nothing." She took a drink and closed her eyes as the alcohol burned the back of her throat, "I said not strong."

"Sorry, I did make it a little strong." He gulped it as he left the room, leaving her to think about whether to finish her drink, or not.


	10. Ten

Stephanie moaned as she opened her eyes. It was broad daylight outside the open double doors, "ugh. Where am I?" She looked around, seeing that it wasn't her bedroom, and from the looks of it, it probably wasn't Paul's bedroom either, "what he hell?" As she became more awake, she realized Paul's arms were around her and his head was buried into her stomach, "get up. Get off of me." She gently pushed at his shoulder.

"What?" He asked, in a gravelly, still obviously asleep, tone. He squeezed tighter around her and sighed, "I can't move. I can feel anything but my massive headache." He took one hand and put it to his forehead.

"Where are we?" She looked out the doors, "what do you mean you can't feel anything? What happened last night? I don't remember anything after the margarita you gave me."

"Me neither." He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. After noticing his wedding ring, he quickly grabbed himself, starting with his shirt, his undershirt, the zipper on his pants, then, inside his pants.

"What the hell are you doing?" She wanted to laugh, but disgust was the first to come out, "why are you feeling yourself up?"

"I had to make sure I still had all my clothes on. You do too right?" He got to his feet and almost fell back on the bed, "having on all my clothes tells me nothing weird happened last night." She instantly realized what he meant and looked down. She was still in her wedding dress, and she felt that her bra was still on, "don't look at me while I'm trying to make sure my panties are still on."

He rolled his eyes and made his way towards the bathroom, "I know where we are. We're still at the hotel. This is one of the rooms at Malibu Country Inn. I've stayed here a before. There's a Jacuzzi out there I'll bet." He walked across the room and went outside, "what do you know, a nice big Jacuzzi, with my shoes next to it. Why are my shoes out here?" He came back in and closed the doors, "those were open all night too. What time is it?"

"I don't know. I thought this would be your bedroom, not a hotel room." She got up and started to panic, "wait, where's Madison at. She's not crying like she normally would be. She's probably here and cried in the middle of the night but I was too drunk to hear her."

His eyes were wide, "remember my sister had her last night. I'll bet she's still with my sister. If she hasn't cried by now, considering its two in the afternoon, she's not here." He grabbed his shirt, "fuck, I can't even think straight right now, my head hurts too much. I can't remember anything. Who paid for this room? Cause I had no plans of getting drunk and staying here."

She shrugged, "all I know is I can't feed Madison today. There's probably alcohol in my breast milk, she'd probably end up plastered like we were last night."

"I don't ever 'get drunk'. Occasionally I'll have one margarita, or, a shot or something, but I can't remember the last time I got wasted like that. I probably made a idiot of myself, where's my phone?" He looked around the disarranged room, "it has to be somewhere around here." He rummaged through a bag draped over a recliner chair.

"Wait, I hear ringing," she looked in the direction of the muffled tone, "its coming from over there." She pointed to the closet.

He opened the closet door and pulled her purse out, where the ringing was clearly coming from but had abruptly stopped, "do you have anything in your purse that you don't want anyone, like me, seeing? Cause that was my phone ringing, and I'm just going to get it."

"Um, I don't think there's anything in there, but, if you feel uncomfortable about it, you can just give it to me."

He looked in it and threw it at the bed, "no, there's girl things in there. That makes me feel uncomfortable. You get my phone out."

She reached in and took his phone out, "what do you mean by 'girl things'? She took out a tampon, "does this make you feel uncomfortable? No wonder you've been single forever."

"Maybe it does, so what?" He took his phone and saw the missed call was from Shawn, so he hit redial, "hey, sorry I missed your call a second ago, I couldn't find my phone."

"What the hell happened to you last night? You were so fucked up it wasn't even funny." Shawn cleared his throat, "so was Stephanie. How are you feeling now?"

"My head hurts, my body kinda feels numb because of that. I didn't mean to get wasted like that, I don't remember anything." He leaned on the wall behind him, "Shawn, I don't even remember how we got here. Apparently I got a room at the inn. How did that happen?"

"Go outside." Shawn opened his door and waited as Paul came out, "yeah, you paid for everyone's rooms. Let me think, um, five rooms maybe? Yours, your parents, Stephanie's parents, Laurie, and mine. Oh, and you even got another one for Laurie's kids. So that's six in all. That's about 800 dollars Paul, if not more, its what, like over a hundred a room here." He shook his head, "oh, and just so you know, you and her," he motioned to Paul's room door, "you guys really sold it last night."

"What's that supposed to mean Shawn?" Paul crossed his arms, "did the secret slip out? I didn't say anything did I?"

"No, your secret's safe. You guys should be nominated for an Academy award after last night. You guys were all over each other like white on rice. You were all hugging and being overly affectionate, and personally, from me, one of your guests who didn't get drunk, it was a little bit nauseating."

Paul nodded, "well, as long as the secret's still safe, I don't really care if it was nauseating for your or not. As long as I don't have to remember touching her, its all good with me."

"Whatever," Shawn grumbled, "I don't know if anything happened between you two last night after you went to bed, but, you all were giggling quite a bit, Rebecca and I certainly heard all that. These walls are like, paper thin."

"When I woke up I had all my clothes on. Pants, undershirt, socks, I even had my boxers still on. I'm pretty sure nothing happened."

"What are you guys talking about?" Shawn's wife Rebecca was standing in the doorway, "I only caught the end of that conversation." She propped the door to stay open and reached out, "congratulations Paul, I didn't get to say it to you last night because Cheyenne was grumpy."

He hugged her back, "thanks Rebecca." He turned back to Shawn, "where is everyone? It's two in the afternoon. Where are Laurie and all the kids?"

"Oh, at the Moorpark College Zoo, they left at like, 10 this morning. Everyone went with them, your mom and dad, Stephanie's mom and dad, and Laurie with all the kids. They even took Cheyenne and Cameron, and Madison."

"Good. So no one's here then, right?" Paul exhaled, "did Laurie have Madison the whole time last night? I remember she had her during the ceremony, but yeah, that's the last thing I remember."

"You don't remember anything?" Rebecca covered her mouth, "you had the sweetest speech last night about Stephanie. You guys are really in love. It's so cute."

Paul smiled, his hand on his chin, "well, I'm gonna go back in my room and take a shower so we can head back home. I'll talk to you later Shawn." He hugged Rebecca again and opened the door, "Laurie and our parents took all the kids to the Moorpark College Zoo." He plopped himself back onto the bed beside her, "I'm tired, and thinking about going back to sleep."

"Madison too?" She crossed her arms, "I need to take a shower, I have to wake up. Who was outside? Shawn?"

He nodded, "yep, he told me everything I couldn't remember. Like the fact that I paid for all six hotel rooms, and we were giggling so much last night that Shawn and Rebecca, who are in the room next to us, aren't exactly sure if anything happened between us last night. Shawn says probably not, but doesn't really know. He also said we should win an Academy Award for our performance last night, we really sold the whole marriage thing, the way he explained it, we definitely don't have to worry about anyone thinking we're lying." He covered his face with his hands, "Rebecca came out and said I had the sweetest speech for you, and that its so cute. Shawn said everything was just nauseating."

"Wow." She thought, "well after he said we giggled a lot, did you at least tell him we both had all our clothes on when we woke up? You even have your socks still on."

"That doesn't mean anything. You can have sex with your socks and everything but your pants and underwear on. And even those can easily be put back on afterwards, we will never know if anything happened last night." He closed his eyes, "I'm putting it that we didn't. My shirts and stuff were still tucked in."

"Okay." She blushed, "I need to get to your truck, I have extra clothes in there." She held her hand out for the keys, "I'll be right back." She went towards the door, "oh, and I need a room key, just in case you fall asleep again."

"It's on the dresser." He kept his eyes closed and turned over, "I might actually go to sleep, just so you know."


	11. Eleven

Paul opened the kitchen door to see his living room, crowded with white and silver wrapped boxes, "whoa, what's all this? And how the hell did all this get here?" He slowly came farther into the living room, "how many people know we got married? Jesus Christ!"

"What do you mean?" Stephanie closed the door and followed him, "oh my God, are you serious?" She held her hand over her mouth, "Paul, what are we supposed to do with all this?"

He picked a box up and read the tag, this one was from a coworker, he looked at another one, "I'll bet we got one thing from everyone on the office, most of them say names that I barely recognize. He picked up a bigger one, "oh, this one's from my mom." He closed his eyes, "yeah, the ones from her are probably really embarrassing. Let me apologize in advance for that."

She gave him a puzzled glance, "why are you apologizing in advance? What do you have to be embarrassed about?"

"You'll see. Whatever is in the boxes from my mom, be aware, that's all I'm gonna say for the time being. When you open them, you'll see."

"We can't open these," she shook her head, "it's wrong."

"What the hell? What do you mean it's wrong? We're married, we have a shitload of wedding presents." He walked towards his bedroom, "I have to get these pants off, they feel tighter today."

She sat down on his couch, pushing a couple of gifts off the edge to have some space. She read one of the boxes she had put on the floor, it was from her mom and Jack. She put her head in her hands and started to cry, until Paul came back out.

He sighed and fixed his T-shirt, seeing she was sniffling, "hey, Stephanie, are you alright?" He sat across from her, "what's wrong?"

"I lied to so many people. I shouldn't have done this. Why do I feel so bad right now?" She looked up at him, "we don't even deserve all these. We can't open them, it's wrong."

"Maybe you don't deserve them, but, for having to marry you, I think I should be able to open some. I'll bet we'll get a new toaster. I need a new toaster." He sat in his recliner in the room full of presents.

She gave him a dirty look and got up, "I don't want any part of this. You open them yourself then."

He stood up, "no, nuh huh, you made me marry you, don't even think of backing out now, you got us both involved, and now, we both have to suffer, okay?"

"What?" She saw his face, he wasn't playing around, "what are you trying to say? I'm making you suffer?"

"That's not what I meant." He huffed, "we just got married yesterday, and I just don't like the way you're talking right now. I could go to prison for doing this Stephanie. I looked it up online. I could go to jail for at least five years, and pay a 250,000-dollar fine, that's a lot of fucking money. And another thing, I just want to know, how long do you plan on being married?"

"I don't know, I think it's a few years at least." She wiped her face, "five to six years Paul. I just didn't want to tell you until after, so then, we were already married and it would be fine."

"Fine? It would be fine? Cause I'm just totally fine with this? Stephanie, six years at the least, right? I'll be 46 by the time we get divorced? Then what? I spent six years married to someone who only wanted me for citizenship, what happens to me after?"

"I don't know!" She screamed back, "I just wanted to be with my daughter. And Randy's parents won't let me take her anywhere." The tears started to flowing again, "what do you exactly mean by that? So what if you'll be 46 when we get 'divorced'?"

"My mom's gonna be heartbroken that my only marriage blew up, and she has no grandkids from me. I don't like hurting my mom like that. But I did it for you, okay, so, that means, she never gets to know the truth. That's all I have to say. We get divorced and act like its total devastation to me, then, everything will go back to normal. She'll hate you, I'll hate you, there."

"I like your mom." She went back to the couch, "and I really like Laurie. It makes me feel horrible to know I'm lying to people who are nice to me. It felt okay at first because I didn't know them, but now, I feel like such a bitch."

He cleared his throat, "you have no idea how happy Shawn would be with you if he heard that come out of your mouth." He sat in his chair across from her, "but, its good that you like my mom and sister, at least I'm not gonna be the husband who has to choose between his wife and his family."

She smiled, "even if we were married for each other, like a real couple, I couldn't ever make someone pick between me and their family. I could never do that to someone."

"That's good to know." He picked up a box, "now, let's get back to ripping all these open. I want a toaster." He read the tag, "to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Levesque, from Stephen and Maria. Who are they?"

"Stephen Farrelly, he works for me, us." She stuttered, "yeah, he's a nice guy, he's Irish." She picked up a box from the table beside her, "its from my mom and Jack."

"So?" He held up a box of silverware, "what do you think?" He put it down and moved on, "I know Shawn and Rebecca got us something, I have to find that one." He stumbled across the sea of gifts, "I have to know what Shawn got us, he told me he picked it out himself."

"Oh God." She smiled and watched him, "is that a bad thing?" She stared at the backside of his sweats, but caught herself and turned bright red.

"It's probably not good. He's thoughtful, but his kind of thoughtful is not always the right kind."

"But he knows this is all fake. I wouldn't expect anything from him since he knows." She waited.

"He knows, but Rebecca doesn't, she wouldn't let two people get married and not get them a gift. She gets me a birthday present every year, she's awesome." He picked up a box, "ha, found it." He got back to his chair and read the tag, "I hope you like it. The picture in the frame is from me. Love your best friend, Shawn." He smiled and ripped the paper open. When he opened the box, he bit his lip and sighed, "what the hell?"

It was a heavy mirrored-edge picture frame with the word 'love' written in cursive below a picture of an obviously drunk Paul and Stephanie with their mouths sloppily pressed together, "I'll kill that motherfucker if it's the last thing I do." He stood up and tossed the pictured onto the chair, "I'll be right back." He angrily ran to his bedroom.

She tried to see the picture in the chair, but it had landed face down. His bedroom door slammed and she curiously stood up. She grabbed the frame and stared at the picture, horrified, "oh my God." She closed her eyes and sighed, hearing Paul scream from his room.

"Fuck you!" He yelled into the phone the second he heard Shawn's innocent voice, "how the fuck did you get a picture so fast? Why would you even do that?" He screamed into his phone, his voice crackling on the other side.

"Walmart one-hour photo does wonders." Shawn snickered to himself, "do you like it? The frame was like 50 bucks, but I only got a few pictures printed, I got several of those, you think your mom might want one? I think she would."

Paul's face turned bright red, "I can't believe you. You really are trying to push it with me aren't you? You know the truth yet you're being an ass about it."

"Oh shut up. You married her, therefore you deserve all of this. Just wait until you see what Rebecca got you. I didn't tell her anything so she really thinks you two are married and so in love. I would have loved to see you when you got my gift, but hers, I would drive over there right now just to see you open that one. But now that I've told you about it, I know you're gonna find it the second you get off the phone."

"What is it?" Paul opened the sliding glass door to the back balcony for some air, "tell me what it is so if it's that embarrassing, I won't open it in front of Stephanie."

"No, it's a gift, a surprise, I'm not telling you anything." He cleared his throat, "but anyway, I have to go, Rebecca and I are busy, I'll text you later though. Have fun with your new wife Paul. Congratulations." Before another word was said, he quickly hung the phone up.

Paul grumbled and closed his phone, "I'm sure people have gotten married for immigration purposes before. Why does it seem like its so hard for us?" He was mumbling as he came back out, "Shawn's dead. Don't worry."

She nodded, thinking about the picture, "why is he being like that? We haven't done anything to him." It was burned into her brain, the thought made her shudder, "and I thought Shawn was nice."

"He's being a dick." He sat back down, "I actually thought the worst of gifts were going to come from my mom, but now, I'm really not sure." He put his head back and sighed.

The two of them sat in an awkward silence before she picked up the box from her parents again, "I don't want to open the ones from my mom. She's so happy for us, and it's a lie."

"So what? Nobody will ever have to know." He grabbed another one, "no name, but there's a card." He opened the envelope and squinted at the card, "I know this is such a common gift, but it looked good to me. Congratulations. John Cena." He put the card on the table beside him, "who's John Cena?"

"Another coworker Paul." She watched him open the slightly large box, only to reveal a brand new toaster, "would you look at that, you got what you wanted."

"It's a nice one too." He laughed, "okay I've opened two, your turn." He put the toaster on the floor, "if you don't want to open the one from your parents, open a different one, come on."

She grabbed one from his mother, its said it was to her, not to the both of them. When she got the box open, she saw a little bit of lace and stuck her hand inside to see if it was what she thought. It was a set of lingerie. Her face turned red and she jumped up, "I'm just gonna go out this away."

"What is it?" He asked, noticing the color she was, "was it from my mom? If it was, I already know what it is."

"Yes, it was from your mother." She threw the box in her bedroom and stared at it, "lingerie is so slutty," she whispered to herself, reopening the box and pulling the outfit all the way out. One the inside, she thought about what it would be like to wear something like this for someone, but she was married to Pail, and it wasn't going to happen, "why would she get that?"

"Cause she gets it for free. She is the owner of a very successful set of, let's just say, 'adult' stores. She has like ten of them now." He sat back, "her and my dad started it just after they had me."

"Embarrassing much?" She sat down, "interesting to say the least."

"You have no idea. As a kid, when it was time for sex-ed, I already knew everything, plus more that I probably didn't need to know as young as I was." He nodded, "its surprising that my sister has all those kids considering all the product placement with condoms my mom has done." He thought for a second, "actually, no, its not really surprising at all that she has four kids, its amazing she doesn't have more."


	12. Twelve

Pail laid in his bed staring at the ceiling when he heard Madison start to cry from Stephanie's room. Stephanie was in the shower so he got up and slowly went into her room, "hi Maddy, what are you crying for huh? Are you hungry?" He took her out to the kitchen where Steph usually had milk in the fridge. There was one little bottle left so he put it in the microwave and gently bounced Madison in his other arm.

He was sitting in his chair feeding her when Stephanie came running out, "oh, you have her. I heard her crying and I was trying to shower as fast as I could."

"I heard her so I thought I could help you out while you were busy." He looked up and saw she was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her, "uh," he stuttered, "you could get dressed and all that, I've got her. It's fine." He tried not to stare at her.

"Okay." She smiled at the sight of him holding her, and from the look if it, he seemed to enjoy it just as much, "thanks Paul." She turned around and went towards her bedroom.

"No problem." He stared down at Madison, happily. He had always told himself he didn't want kids, because he just didn't have the time for them, and it would be unfair for them to be raised like that. But there were times like this, or when he held his sister's kids, where he wished he did have the time, a long time ago.

After she finished her bottle, Paul stood up and reached for a towel on the couch, he put Madison on his shoulder and gently rubbed her back, slightly patting it. He glanced up to see Stephanie standing in the entranceway, watching him, "Paul, you're great with kids." She sat across from him.

"I've been told that plenty of times." He smiled and held Madison out to her, "she's actually a pretty calm one. You're lucky."

She held Maddy over her shoulder, "don't think I can't tell you want to be a daddy." She eyed him, "you're only what, 39? In about five years, you'll be 45, you still have time to meet someone and have a family."

"And If I had a baby at 46, by the time its 18 and graduated high school, I would be 64." He sat back, "its too late Stephanie, I waited like, way too long."

"For you being a guy, its not too late, you make a lot of money and I'm sure there's some younger girl out there who would love an older guy with money to have babies with."

He gave her a horrified glare, "that just came out sounding really creepy."

"You could adopt you know, you could adopt a kid that's like five, and then you'll be 59 when he or she graduates." She patted Madison's back, "or adopt a ten-year old."

"Why are we having this conversation?" He got up, "I'm walking away from this." He started towards the kitchen when the phone rang. He looked at the caller ID screen, then Stephanie, before answering it, "hi Laurie."

"Paul, what are you guys doing today? How's Stephanie?" She sounded as if she'd drank two Red Bulls, "the kids want to come see you."

"Today?" he looked at the clock, I'm not even dressed right now," he thought, "yeah, we have nothing planned for today, so I guess you guys could come over." He heard her yell out to the kids, then he heard his youngest nephew scream back, "wow, they must be excited."

"Yeah," she laughed, "so, how's marriage treating you? Must be nice." She sighed, "I miss being married, I wish Jim and I could've worked things out. But hey, things happen."

"Hmm." Paul just stayed quiet. Laurie and Jim separated a year after their youngest, Lily, was born. They were married for 13 years. Laurie was just 20 when they married and had their first daughter, Samantha, a year later. Followed by Trevor and Joey, "well, have you gone out with anyone yet?"

"A few guys, but not any that can handle four kids. Maybe when they're older and can entertain themselves, I'll find someone."

"Yeah," he nodded, "well I guess I'll go get in the shower and put everything breakable away. What time do you think you'll be getting here?"

"Probably in about two hours. I'm gonna get dressed and get everyone else ready to go. See you then."

"Okay, see you then." He pulled the phone away and hung up, "the kids are coming, if you have anything laying around anywhere, put it away. Cause they'll find it. And they show no compassion to belongings. They will destroy anything. The computer's fairly new because of them."

"Can't I just close the door?" She saw he looked a little irritated, "what's wrong? Are you not happy they're coming? You could have just said no, right?"

"Yeah, I cold have, but I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with them, and I didn't think before I answered her." He rubbed his eyes and sighed, "just make sure there's nothing on the floor in your room, they'll probably open the doors, but as long as nothing is on the ground for them to play with, its fine," he started to think, "oh, put all your stuff either away out of sight or in my room, and put the bed away, fold it back into the couch, and we'll make it look like its Madison's room."

"Oh, alright," she got up, "can you help me? I can't do it by myself." She followed him to her room, "is that all that's bothering you?"

He shrugged, "well, yeah, pretty much." He pointed at the bed, "just put all the blankets on my bed and I'll fold this up for you."

She picked up her blankets and her pillow and went to his bedroom. When she opened the door, she looked around. It was the first time she'd been in there. This room had to have been half the house, and it was just as masculine as the rest, maybe a little more with the smell of his cologne lingering in the air. She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly threw everything on his messy, unmade bed.

"Took you long enough." He was standing in her doorway waiting for her to come back out, "what were you doing in there?"

"Nothing." She gave him a weird look, "actually, your bed was so messy I was contemplating making it, but then I decided not to because I know how you get about me touching your things." She started to shove all of Madison's baby stuff into her diaper bag.

"You could've, if it bothered you that bad." He turned around and disappeared down the hallway, "I'm gonna clean my living room. I have to put all the breakable things away, like pictures, the remote, I'm gonna close the TV cabinet too."

"Are they really that bad? I mean, do you have to hide they car keys too? You make it seem like they're psycho."

"Wait until Madison gets a little older. You'll see, they are psycho," he sat in his chair, "I haven't left the keys out yet, I don't know about that. But I do know that the remote has been jumped on, pillow fights have broken out, resulting in shattered picture frames and the flat screen falling forward, right out of the cabinet. How many more examples of crazy do you need?"

"I get it." She nodded, watching Madison play in the portable crib, "don't you have to take a shower?"

"Yes I do, thanks for reminding me." He quickly got up and walked to his room, shutting the door behind him.

They were eating breakfast at the dining table when car doors shut outside, followed by the sound of a sliding door being shut, then kids whining, "you put everything away right? They're gonna hit like a tornado at first, just letting you know."

"My room is clean, so is the hallway bathroom." She took a bite of pancakes just as the doorbell rang, "I can get the door if you want."

"Okay, sure," he sat back down in relief and started to eat again, "thanks."

Stephanie opened the door and smiled, "hi Laurie, hi kids." She patted Joey's head as he passed right by, "come in, please, Paul and I were just eating breakfast actually." She hugged Laurie and Samantha, "how are you guys?"

"We're just fine. The main thing is how are you?" She was grinning from ear to ear, "let Paul have the kids for awhile, he'll be fine." She pulled Stephanie to the couch, "if you don't mind me asking, who's Madison's father? It's not my brother right?"

Steph shook her head, "no, she's my ex-fiancé's. He died in a car accident when I was six months along." She held back tears, "I wish she was Paul's, it so cute to watch him hold her," she couldn't believe what had just come out of her mouth, "and it would save us the trouble of having to tell her the truth when she sees her birth certificate one day."

"Yeah, I don't think my brother wants kids really, he's never wanted to talk about it though. It makes my mom crazy, she really wants grandchildren from him, which I don't see why its so important, since she has four from me. I would say that's enough, but I guess its not for her." Laurie sighed, "I don't know why it was so hard for him to meet someone, but he kinda said it was because of you."

"Me?" Stephanie's heart sunk a little, she knew what that meant. Paul didn't have a life outside of work because of her, he'd even told her that. The problem was that he did meet people, but she always called him at the wrong time, like when he was out on a date. Everyone he dated left him at the restaurant because they thought he was married to her, "what do you mean me?"

"Well, you know, he said you're very, um," she sighed and tried to come up with something nice, "uh, see, I only know his side of the story, but he always said you needed him all the time, more than normal. And you're always yelling at him about stuff. Most people would see that as you being, a little bit…"

"A bitch, I know." Stephanie smiled, "he told me," she cleared her throat, "so, um, what else has he said about me? Besides the fact that I've been a bitch to him for a long time."

"Nothing more really." Laurie nodded, "you guys are so in love, I can just see it! I can see it when I look at him though, he looks happy."

Stephanie looked up at him, not noticing anything new in his facial expressions. Maybe around her, he was always happy, or maybe she just couldn't see it through her gloominess, "I know right?" She bit her lip and stared at him as he smiled, playing with niece Lily.


	13. Thirteen

The next morning, Paul was in the shower washing his hair when he heard the bathroom door swing open, "hello?"

"Hi." It was Stephanie, she slammed the door behind her and crossed her arms, "I want to talk to you."

"Right now?" He pulled the curtain over and poked his shampooed head out, "I'm in the shower. This can't wait a minute or two?"

"No, I need to talk to you right now." She sat on the toilet seat and cleared her throat, "your mom just called."

"And?" He rinsed out his hair, "I will be out of the shower in a minute. Go wait outside." He felt awkward knowing she was just outside of the curtain, "Stephanie, get out of my bathroom."

She waited until the water shut off, then stood up and threw his towel in with him, "put this around you."

"Get out!" He quickly wrapped himself up in the towel as he knew what was gonna happen next, "Stephanie, come on."

She ripped the curtain open and tried to keep her eyes on his, "she called to announce when she was going to come and stay with us. In just a few days."

"Wait, what? She's coming over? No, she can't, where's she gonna stay, she can't stay here, you have the second bedroom."

"Paul, she's coming on Friday." She chewed her fingernail, "I tried to tell her we had plans, I really tried, I said we had plans with friends, all she said back is that she would stay here with Madison. I couldn't get her to listen to me."

"She hates you, that's why she wouldn't listen to you." He tried to put his boxers on under his towel, "not trying to be mean, but, yeah, it's the truth."

She nodded, "I know, but I'm trying to be nice to her. We can't have her sleep on the couch, she has to sleep in my room. And neither one of us can sleep on the couch, she'll think something of that. I don't know what to do. She says she wants to stay for a couple weeks while your dad is away at his uncle's house."

"You'll have to sleep in my bed, with me." He wanted to shudder at the thought, but kept it together for she was standing right there, "I have a king size bed, it should be fine."

"What about Madison? Where's she going to sleep?" Her breath got caught up in her throat as he pulled the towel off and stood in front of her in nothing but his boxers, "I could always put the portable crib in our room. That would be fine right?"

"Sure." He reached behind her and opened the door, "by the way, thanks for making my shower awkward." He slid past her and opened his closet door, "we have to make room in here for your stuff, you can't be going in 'her' room to get clothes and stuff." He moves stuff over, "I'll try and make room for you."

"Paul, I really don't feel comfortable with this. How are you just okay with this?" She whined, reminding herself of how she treated him at work, "I don't want to sleep in your bed."

"Too bad. I know I can't just tell my mom she can't come over, she's not gonna buy that. Just get over it and we'll be done. She'll come over and be gone before we even know it. You married me, you're gonna have to put up with some of the consequences you know." He was in his walk-in closet opening and closing dresser drawers, "say she stays two weeks, I sleep on my side of the bed, you sleep on yours. It's simple really."

Sleeping in his bed with him wasn't the part that bothered her. The part that bothered her was the fact that she felt like she didn't mind. It seemed as if she'd started to enjoy being married to him, almost like she'd started to like him, "fine," she sat on his bed and laid back, noticing his bed was actually really comfortable, "what if she wants to stay longer than that? Two weeks means 13 nights in your bed. If you think about it, that's a pretty long time."

"Yeah, but it'll go by like nothing. And then, before you know it, you'll be back in your room on that couch bed." He came out and looked at her, "what are you doing? Trying to get used to it already huh?" He pulled a T-shirt over his head, "comfortable?"

She smiled and nodded, "yeah, it is. Way more comfortable than the couch bed." She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "why are we even arguing? I don't want to argue."

"I don't either," he buttoned his jeans, "so it's Monday, we have about four days before she gets here. That's enough time right?" He sat next to her on the bed and pulled socks on, "I hope so. But I know there's no preparing for when my mom comes."

"Oh, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Last week, when Laurie and the kids were here, her and I were talking about you, and your mom. Can't you see how bad your mom wants grandchildren from you? You see it right?"

He was silent. He didn't even look at her and he tied his tennis shoes, "I'm not talking about this with you. Leave it at that." He started to get up but she grabbed onto his arm, "what?"

"Don't run away from this. We should be able to talk about stuff without one of us getting all upset at the other, like you're doing right now. Just talk to me, do you really not want kids, or is it something else."

"Didn't we have this conversation the other day? It's too late for me to have kids." He rolled his eyes, "quit asking me about kids, its creeping me out."

"Well don't you know your mom's pretty upset with you about that? Laurie told me." She was still holding onto his arm and leaning over on his shoulder, he smelled good and she felt overly relaxed around him, "Paul?"

"I think the last time I went on a date was like, the beginning of August, like two months ago. And guess who ruined that for me? My phone rang, and there you were, screaming at me on the other line. I tried to say it was my boss, but she left me sitting there after she screamed at me for cheating on my wife."

"I wasn't your wife two months ago." She gulped, "I'm sorry for ruining that for you. You deserve to be happy too you know."

He nodded, "I know, and now, I'm a little but happier actually, my family is happy with me, and everything's okay. My parents are no longer pressuring me about getting older and being alone. You're helping me out a little too you know."

"That's good to know." She smiled, still leaning on him, "your sister said you looked really happy the other day. And that we look like we love each other."

He was silent as he thought to himself, why would she say that to him right now? She seemed to be making things kind of awkward between them lately, "Laurie said that?" He got up and pretended to act like he was surprised, "we ought to go grocery shopping so we have a kitchen full of food when my mom gets here. If she knew we don't cook and go out for dinner all the time, she'd probably stay longer just to cook for us."

"Well, you and I are going out to dinner on Saturday." She bit her lip, "that was supposed to be our excuse, but your mom just said she wants to watch Madison for us while we're out."

"Is that all you said? Cause with that excuse, I would invite myself over too." He put his wallet in his back pocket, "you coming with me to the grocery store?"

"No, I'm gonna stay here. I don't feel like getting ready, and then having to get all of Madison's stuff ready, its all too much work." She fell back on his bed again, "don't worry, I won't do anything to your house, besides sleep." She closed her eyes, "you trust me right?"

"Sure," he put his phone in another pocket, "I'll be back, all I ask is that my house is still standing when it get back," he paused to think, "actually, I don't see that as a problem considering you don't cook."

She sarcastically laughed, "you're totally right, I don't cook." She smiled and listened as he walked out of the room and left out the garage door. Once she heard him drive away in his truck, she sat up and looked around his bedroom, seeing a couple more pictures on the dresser next to the TV. Mostly pictures of kids, probably Laurie's, but in the corner of the bigger frame, there was a baby, and the closer she looked at it, the clearer she could tell it was Madison. The picture was cut out of the announcement card she sent to people when Madison was just born, "he kept this?" She held it for a second before sitting back on the bed, holding her face in her hands, "I can't believe I've been such a bitch to him, and all he's been is a nice, caring guy."


	14. Fourteen

"Happy birthday Stephanie." Paul walked into the dining room where Stephanie was sitting with Madison eating toast.

She looked up at him, surprised he remembered, "thanks." She smiled at him and noticed he was dressed, looking as if he was about to leave, "where are you going?"

"Out." He pulled a jacket on and sighed, "I want to just get out somewhere before my mom gets here. Is that okay?"

She nodded, "I don't care." She frowned at the thought of being alone on her birthday, but didn't ask to come along, "when is she getting here? Has she called?"

He shook his head, "no, she hasn't called yet. We have to go get her by the way. At LAX." He jingled his keys and looked at her, "she decided yesterday that making us go get her an hour away, is cheaper and more sanitary than getting on the bus."

"Isn't the bus only like, six dollars though?" She bit her lip, "so you want me to go with you to get her?"

"Well yeah, I don't want to be alone with her for an hour." He sighed, "if she calls while I'm not here, text me and I'll come get you."

"Where are you gonna go anyway?" She asked again, trying not to sound like she was nagging him.

"Nowhere, just out." He turned red, "I'll be back." He went out the garage door and slammed it.

She sat at the table, confused about the way he was acting. He was acting totally different today, way different than she'd ever seen him.

A few hours later, the phone rang and Stephanie saw Paul's mom's name on the caller ID, she was hesitant to answer it but after four rings, she did, "hi Mrs. Levesque, how are you?"

"Oh just fine. I'm at Los Angeles airport now, is Paul there? I told him I would call when I got here so you guys could come and get me."

"Yeah, I don't know where he is right now, he left a couple hours ago and said he was going out for a little while. But he said to call him when you called me, so we'll be on our way soon."

"Okay, have him call me when he's like ten minutes away. I'm so excited to see you guys!" She hung up, leaving Stephanie trying to fake a smile.

She dialed Paul's number, then remember he said to text her, but it was already too late, "what?" He answered, sounding as if he was rudely interrupted.

"Paul, is something wrong?" She felt uncomfortable with him sounding annoyed, "you sound like your mad or something," she changed the subject, "your mom just called and said she's at the airport."

He cleared his throat, "okay, I'm about to leave then. Be there in a few minutes. Why didn't you just text me like I said?"

"I don't know. Calling you was faster I guess." She bit her lip, "I'll see you when you get here." She pushed end on her phone as fast as she could before he could say anything back.

"Hey." When he came back, he was smiling at her, "you ready to go?" He was back to normal, or so it seemed, "what's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong? What's wrong with you? Why did you seem all pissed off earlier?"

He just stared at her, "um, I don't know. I was in a little bit of a bad mood earlier, with my mom coming and all that. It was nothing, sorry." He took Madison's diaper bag for her, "we're taking the Mercedes right now."

"But you just said it doesn't have gas, the truck is full." She walked towards the truck, "what are you doing?"

"Just get in the car." He glared at her, "I'm gonna fill it up on the way there, don't worry about it Stephanie."

"Fine, jeez." She put Madison in and buckled the belt around her carseat, "what the fuck is wrong wit you today?" She slammed the car door and got in beside him, "don't start this before your mother gets here, we don't need to be fighting."

"Nothing is wrong with me!" He started the car and put his seatbelt on, "the truck just smells right now," he hesitated, "because I left food in there on accident, I need to air it out." He pulled the gear into reverse, then put it back in park, I forgot, I wanted to change clothes. Do I smell?"

She stuck her nose in the air, "not really? The garage kinda smells like old cigars, and sometimes it smells like a skunk out here…"

"Yeah, I'll be right back." He got out and ran inside. A few minutes later he came back out in a complete different outfit, "sorry, I kept smelling myself."

"Smelling what on yourself?" She opened her window, "nevermind, you've been acting weird today, that's all I'm gonna say." She pulled out her phone and scrolled around, "but you said you're nervous about your mom coming over, and that's understandable."

He nodded, "just don't worry about it, I always get a little bit weird when I know my mom's coming over, just wait until she's actually here."

"Mom, we're almost here." He held the phone with one hand, while the other was on the wheel, "what terminal am I picking you up at?" He waited for her to answer, "hello? We're about to start going down by all the terminals, where are you?"

"I don't know, all I know is I took Southwest, it should say where Southwest's terminal is outside, there's a bus in front of me right now."

"So move away from the bus, what kind of bus is it?" Paul looked at Stephanie and rolled his eyes, "I'll honk when I see you, but I have to get off the phone now." He hung up and stuffed the phone in the cup holder, "fuck, I'm so hungry right now." He held his stomach, "help me keep my eye out for her."

"Where the hell does your mom live? Why did she fly here? I would have thought she lived close, like Laurie." She stared out the open window, "there she is, behind that red bus." She pointed towards his mother with two huge bags next to her.

He quickly pulled out of traffic and drove towards her, his hand was laying on the horn until the car came to a stop, "don't get out, just stay in the front seat with me, please." He seemed to be begging her, so she stayed put, watching as he took the huge bags to the trunk.

"Hi Stephanie, how are you?" His mom got in the car and put her seatbelt on, "it was cool in San Diego, but its hot here already."

Paul got in and got back in traffic, "how was your flight mom? Was it nice?" He was driving erratically, weaving between as many cars as he could, "are you hungry or anything?"

"Just a little bit, but I can wait until we get back to your house, I'm fine." She looked over at Madison, "well aren't you a little cutie? Stephanie, how old is she again?"

"She's eight months, born on January third." She smiled uncomfortably and looked over at Paul, who was squinting to see the road signs, "Paul, honey, don't you have your glasses with you?"

He glanced at her, "oh, yes honey I do." He smiled back and reached in the center console, "I forgot I was supposed to wear them." He put them glasses on and sighed, "I think we can go out for lunch, I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten today yet."

"Since when do you wear glasses Paul?" His mom leaned between the two front seats, "are you going blind or what? Your father had to get glasses early too."

"They're just for driving mom. I complained to my eye doctor that sometimes I can't see the signs until they're really close, especially at night, and he suggested I wear glasses, not for anything else but driving."

"And reading." Stephanie spoke up, "you have some for reading too, that you use at work, right?"

He just nodded, "yeah," he pulled onto the freeway and turned the radio on, "I'll stop about halfway so we can eat, I know of a good restaurant we can go to."


	15. Fifteen

Stephanie was sitting on Paul's bed feeding Madison while Paul's mom was in the bedroom arranging her clothes. Paul had 'gone out' again, leaving the three of them alone together. Her mom hadn't even talked to her yet, just said hi back at the airport, it felt awkward to want to talk to her, so she just closed the bedroom door and hid.

The TV was on low volume, showing Paula Deen make some chicken dish, she stared at it until the door opened and Paul looked at her, confused, "haven't you learned to knock?" She grabbed a blanket and covered herself with it, "the door was closed for a reason you know."

"I didn't think I would have to knock to come in my own bedroom." He looked down at the grey carpet, "sorry, I should have warned you I was coming in, are you covered?"

"Yeah, now." He looked down the hallway before coming in and closing the door, "here, I got you flowers for your birthday." He placed a bouquet of white roses on the bed and walked to the bathroom, "I asked my mom to watch Madison for us if you want to go somewhere for dinner."

"You mean like, just us two? Sure, where do you feel like going? We had Chinese food earlier for lunch, what sounds good? I'll buy us dinner since you already bought us food."

"No, it's your birthday, I'll buy you dinner. It's not a problem. You tell me what sounds good and we'll go there." He closed the bathroom door behind him.

"I just want cake really." She wondered why he was being so nice to her today, was it just because, or was it only because his mom was here? She sat thinking to herself quietly.

He came back out and waved his hand in front of her, "I know of a cupcake place like right down the street, you can buy as many cupcakes as you want, you pay for each one, and its real cheap too. You want to have dinner somewhere and then go over there? We could do that."

"Cupcakes sound so good too." She was smiling up at him when his mom knocked on the door, "let me get to the bathroom so I can fix myself."

"She's not gonna say anything about that. She probably heard you yelling at me about knocking and thinks something's wrong." He whispered, opening the door before she could even move, "hi mom."

"I thought I heard you guys arguing, is everything okay?" She looked at Stephanie, "I'm so sorry I've been ignoring you today, I feel so bad, I always take the first day to unpack and usually Paul's at work when I do it. I hope you don't think I don't like you and don't want to talk to you." She sat beside her on the bed, "oh, is this the new bed?"

"Yeah," Paul crossed his arms, "its so comfortable, I'm not tossing and turning all night anymore."

"That's good." She looked up to him, "so, are you two going out tonight? Paul told me it was your birthday today, did he get you these?" She picked up the bouquet and smiled, "white roses are beautiful."

"They're my favorite flower." Stephanie was staring at Paul, who wouldn't look back at her, "yeah, me and Paul are gonna go out, I don't know where yet."

"Well, we're gonna go out for dinner, than go eat cupcakes at Crumbs Bake Shop." He fidgeted his hands, "or we could eat dinner here, and just go out to the cupcake place."

"That would be nice too." She bit her lip, "I'm not even hungry after lunch though."

"Me neither." Talking to each other in front of Paul's mom felt awkward for the both of them, they made eye contact for a split-second but he looked away.

"What's with you two?" His mom interrupted, "you guys are acting all weird, this is way different than at the wedding, you guys were all over each other then."

He grunted, "yeah, I know, Shawn got a pretty bad picture of us." He wiped his forehead before walking out of the room.

"Shawn sent me that picture too. I thought it was cute, so what if you guys had a few drinks, who doesn't?" She tried not to stare at Madison, "so you breastfeed huh? When I had Paul and Laurie, I tried breastfeeding back then, but it just seemed too hard because they were always hungry, like more than they were when I just used the powdered stuff."

"Yeah, I do both usually, I breastfeed when I can, but I'm not that big on using the pump thing I have, if I have things to do and don't have time, I just make the formula. The pump is just too weird for me."

"Does Paul get all creeped out when you breastfeed? He used to when he learned that Laurie did. She was in my living room with her oldest Samantha when he walked in, I didn't notice him stare at another woman's chest after that." She was trying not to laugh out loud.

"He just makes it seem really hard to look at me when I'm feeding her." Stephanie smiled and pulled her top up, "its really nice of you to offer to take Madison for us while we go out."

"I don't see why it would be hard for any man to look at boobs when they're out. Paul's just weird like that I guess." She held out her hands for Madison, "its no problem honey, I'm just hoping I'll have my own grandkids from you guys soon, although I know this little one's still a baby and there's gotta be enough time."

Steph blushed at the thought of wanting more kids, she did, but she knew it wouldn't happen with Paul, "I know you want grandkids Mrs. Levesque, Laurie talks about it all the time."

"Honey, please call me Leona, or mom, not Mrs. Levesque, I hate being all formal like that." Leona smiled down at Maddy in her arms, "Laurie told me you wished Madison was Paul's so you wouldn't have to tell her later on about her father. Why don't you just have Paul adopt her, you guys are married and all, she has the right to be able to call someone her father."

"I know, but that's up to him if he wants to do that. I don't want to push that on him. We just got married, maybe we'll talk about it after a few months at least." She bit her lip, she'd already pushed him into marrying her, it probably wasn't the time to say that if he adopted Madison, they're marriage could be shorter. She was starting to like living with him, he was funny, and helped her, living with him was way better than living alone.

"I was thinking that maybe later in the week I could take Madison to Laurie's and you guys could be alone or something, I know how hard it was to have alone time when you have a baby. It just doesn't work."

"Thanks Leona, I'm sure Laurie would love to see her." Stephanie knew that alone time for her and Paul consisted of them eating dinner or lunch in awkward silence, then they would go back to his house and watch TV, sometimes ending the night with Paul falling asleep in his chair, or he would be wide awake and it would be too late for him to take his sleeping medication, so she would be the one falling asleep.

Paul sat back and watched at Stephanie ate a chocolate cupcake, he waited as the waitress came back to start smiling at her again. Stephanie wiped her mouth with her napkin, looking down and noticing Paul wasn't wearing his ring. She didn't know what to say to him, she wanted to ask him right in front of the younger, quite flirty waitress, but to her it didn't seem right. She waited until she walked away, then looked at him, "what are you doing?"

He tried to seem innocent, "what? I know her, I always come here so over time I got to know her, I'm not doing anything." He took a drink of soda and looked away, as he always did when she stared at him, "what does it matter what I'm doing anyway?"

She shook her head, "nevermind." She kept her left hand on the table when the waitress came back with another cupcake, "oh, thanks," she tried to make her ring visible to her, "can I get another cup of decaf please?" The girl looked at Paul before walking away, "why aren't you wearing your ring?"

"Because I forgot to put it on after I did dishes this morning, sorry." He looked down at his watch, "is that one good? Can I have half?"

She handed him the whole plate, "sure," she handed him the whole plate with a knife, "thanks for everything tonight." She looked down at her empty cup of coffee, "you know, I didn't even expect you to remember it was my birthday."

"Really? I always knew when your birthday was, its only a couple months after mine." He cut the cupcake in two and stuffed his half in his mouth, "this place is probably the reason I'm fat."

"You are not fat, you just aren't exactly skinny." She smiled and covered her mouth, "you're like average, in the middle."

"Thanks," he gave her a slight smile back, taking what she said as a compliment, then the waitress came back again with Stephanie's coffee.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" She smiled at them, holding her little notebook, "do you want more coffee Paul?"

"I'm okay, no thanks, but can I get the check please?" He got up and followed her to the front counter, where Steph sat in her chair, watching them jealously.

She couldn't understand why she felt so jealous of it all. By the looks of it, he had asked her out, and in return, got her phone number, which he stuffed into his pocket quickly. Was she jealous of the waitress? Or was it because Paul was totally into her when he usually pretended Stephanie wasn't there, or wasn't even his wife, as he was doing now.

"You ready?" He stood next to her with his hands in his pockets, "everything's all paid for, for your birthday." He pushed in her chair after she got up and followed her out to his car, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, still feeling jealous, "you asked her out didn't you?"

He rolled his eyes, ignoring her. They sat in silence until he turned on his street, then he noticed she was sniffling, "Stephanie, what's wrong with you?" She waited until he was in the garage and put the car in park, then she got out and slammed the door on him, "don't do this in front of my mom."


	16. Sixteen

It was three in the morning and Paul was still wide-awake. He had been staring at the ceiling since eleven, when him and Stephanie had gone to bed, "Stephanie?" He grumbled, hearing Madison start to whimper in her crib at the end of his bed.

"Hmm," she turned towards him and sighed in her sleep. She was snuggled close to him to where he didn't want to move, but he felt it was weird so he sat up.

"Stephanie, Madison's awake." He touched her arm, "Steph?" He knew she wasn't moving so he got up and took Madison in his arms, "mommy's sleeping right now honey." He rocked her for a little while, not even noticing when she fell back asleep. He put her back in her crib and paced in his room a few times, "I need to go to sleep, fuck." He rubbed his forehead and looked at his bed, seeing Stephanie's face in the orange streetlight coming through the sliding glass door.

He lied back down and sighed, trying to feel comfortable next to her. He had a big king-sized bed, but she was in the middle, which left him with less than half. He faced her and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he felt Stephanie put her arm around him and started to sniffle, like she had earlier. He didn't say anything until she started to grasp his shirt, whimpering, "Stephanie, wake up." He took her hand and squeezed it, letting go when she ripped it away, "are you okay?"

"I don't know," she whispered and looked at him, "I had a dream about Randy." She buried her face in his side, crying.

"It's okay Steph." He put his arm under her and pulled her into a hug, holding her close, "honey, what happened in the dream?"

She didn't even acknowledge he had called her honey. She wiped her face and broke away out of his arms, "Paul, I want to be honest and tell you what was going on when he got in that accident." She sat up on the opposite side of the bed, "we weren't even together the whole time I was pregnant. We broke up before I even found out about Madison, he was drunk when he crashed because I didn't want him a part of Madison's life. He hated me."

He could see tears streaming down her face, "why did you have to tell me that?" He sat up, watching her helplessly as she cried, "why didn't you want him around for Madison?"

"He was a drunk, I didn't want his alcohol abuse around her. He wasn't even my fiancé. I just said that so people would think someone actually liked me. I slept with Randy when I was drunk, and that's how we got Madison. I mean, we talked, and we dated before I got pregnant, but we didn't really get along."

"Stephanie, why are you telling me all this?" He lied back down, sighing, "you usually only tell me stuff when there's something more important. Like the whole 'we have to get married' conversation."

"I just wanted someone to talk to. I feel like I can talk to you. I used to at work all the time, I told you everything at work." She went silent for a second, then took his face in her hands and kissed him. He didn't fight it, he just let it happen until she pulled away.

"What are you doing? What was that?" Before he could control himself, he was up and out of the bed, "Stephanie, what the hell was that?"

"Shut up, you're gonna wake up Madison." She pushed her hair back, "I don't know what that was for." She kept herself from crying again, "Paul?"

"I'm sleeping on the couch." He grabbed a pillow and a blanket and walked out. Inside he was aching, leaving her in his bed crying killed him. He couldn't figure out why the kiss bothered him so much. He just threw himself on the couch and turned the TV on.

The next morning, Paul woke up and looked around, all the curtains were closed and it was dark, but the TV was off. He stood up and walked to his room to find it empty with the bed all neatly made. He came back out to the kitchen and saw a note. Stephanie and his mom had gone out shopping.

"Oh," he looked around and opened the fridge, looking for something to eat. He couldn't stop thinking about last night, how nice it was to share his bed with someone, how happy it made him to get Madison to go to sleep in his arms, how great it felt when Stephanie kissed him. He was leaning on the counter with his head in his hands thinking how stupid he had been, she liked him, he knew he felt something for her too, but just didn't know what, or why. His thoughts were stopped short by the sound of his phone, he ran to his room to catch it in time, "hello?"

"Hi Paul," Stephanie cleared her throat, not letting the night before leave her mind, "your mom and I are about to leave the mall to get lunch, do you want to meet us somewhere?"

"You actually want me to come, or does my mom want me to come?" He sat on the bed, "listen, about last night…"

"We both do, forget about last night, I'm sorry about that. Your mom was worried about it until I told her you just couldn't sleep because you didn't take your medicine. She closed all the curtains for you."

He bit his lip, "Stephanie, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. Maybe I just don't want our friendship to be awkward."

"Yeah, that's it." She smiled although her heart was breaking inside, "is there any place in particular you want to go?"

She had cut him off again, so he just went with it, "I don't know, I could eat anything right now, I just woke up like a minute ago."

"How about Mexican food? I'll meet you at the restaurant we always used to go by the office." She got in his Mercedes and closed the door, "I have your car by the way, so, yeah."

"That's fine. I'll be there in like a half hour, which mall are you at?" He one-handedly pulled jeans on and zipped them up.

"In San Fernando. The one we always go to." She started the car and waited, "I'll see you there then, bye." She hung up and almost threw her phone in the cup holder. She was upset with him after last night, she threw herself at him and he freaked out, it told her he didn't like her as much as she liked him.

Lunch was eaten with only Leona talking. Paul couldn't look at Stephanie because he felt bad. And because she was there, he couldn't even eat, he just felt like throwing up, "are you guys okay?" Leona waved her hand in front of her son's face, "you guys have been acting so different."

"I know, I'm sorry, I just didn't sleep last night. I was up until like five, and I just don't feel good, I think it had something to do with those cupcakes last night." He forced a bite of rice down, "and then because I didn't sleep well, I kept Stephanie up." He looked over at her, "are you okay?"

She shook her head and kept eating, "I just don't feel good," she knew it was because of what had happened, and like he had said, their friendship was awkward now, "Madison woke up early too, and just ugh." She put her fork down and wiped her mouth, I have to use the restroom, I'll be back." She stood up and walked away.

"Looks like she needs some alone time already. You guys have only been married for a few weeks, what's going on?"

"Nothing, my medicine fucked everything up last night, I forgot to take it so I didn't sleep and was up too late. I should have went to the living room earlier so she didn't stay up with me but I didn't think about it." He took a drink of water and looked around, waiting for Stephanie to come back and save him.

"Okay, as long as you guys are okay. You both look sleep-deprived today so I'm just worried. You aren't lying to me are you?"

"No, I'm not." He kept his eyes on his food, "Stephanie and I are just fine." He smiled when his wife came back out, in reality, they were far from fine, and the face she gave him told him she was even farther, "babe, are you alright?"

"I can't eat anymore. I just threw it all up." She whispered, holding back tears, "I want to go home." She leaned on his arm, "are you done?"

"Yeah, I'm not hungry either." He felt bad for her, she didn't look happy at all, "mom, are you done, or almost done?" His arm found its way around Stephanie and held her tighter, "I'll go pay the bill for us."

"Oh, no, you got lunch yesterday, I'll get it, how about you just go take Stephanie home and leave the car keys here, I'll keep Madison with me and you guys can just be at home for a little while."

"Alright, Stephanie, give her the keys to the car, we'll go home." He stood up and started to walk with Steph outside, "what's wrong?" He unlocked the truck and helped her inside.

"I don't know, I just don't feel good. I went to the bathroom, because I felt like I was gonna start crying, and I ended up puking." She put the seat back and sighed, "I barely ate anything though."

"You just feel sick?" He pulled the truck around and out of the small parking lot, "I was hungry until I got there, then I was just like, no." He went quiet for a second before changing to subject back to what had happened, "Stephanie, I'm sorry, I didn't eat because I just felt bad about last night."

"I'm sorry I just threw myself on you last night. I did make our friendship awkward, and I want to apologize for that." She held her stomach, "I don't know if that's why I feel sick though, my stomach really hurts."

"I felt sick last night, I think something was really up with those cupcakes." He fell quiet for the rest of the car ride home, then, when he opened the garage door, he looked at her and noticed her eyes were teary and red, "are you sure your stomach is the only thing bothering you?"

"Yeah," she grabbed her purse and got out, not even waiting for him to get out and follow her. She went inside and walked straight to the bedroom and slammed the door.

He slowly came inside from the garage and looked around, "Stephanie, where'd you go?" He noticed his door was closed, "Steph, are you in my room?"

She was leaning over the toilet, trying to keep herself from throwing up. She had her elbows on the seat and her fingers were all intertwined in her hair, "I'm in the bathroom," she sat down on the floor with her back against the wall, "I thought I was gonna throw up but I didn't."

"You want some Pepto Bismol? I have some here in the cabinet." He turned to the big medicine cabinet above the sink, "just take a drink from the bottle, that's what I do. I mean, don't gulp it down, just a drink of it." He handed her the large pink bottle.

"Why don't you just put some pajamas or something on and go lay down. I'm gonna put my sweats back on and lay down too. We'll watch TV." He picked her up off the bathroom floor, "let's try and be in bed by the time my mom gets here, so we can at least pretend we're asleep."

She enjoyed his arms being around her, and wished it could be like that all the time, not just when she wasn't feeling good. It was even better later on, when they were lying in his bed together again, talking and laughing, acting as if nothing had happened the night before.


	17. Seventeen

Paul's mother had been there for only a few days and she was already driving them a little crazy. And it wasn't just her presence that irritated them, it was the fact that she always wanted to be in their business, and usually it was about 'business' that never actually happened.

"Paul, do you need the Mercedes today?" Stephanie popped into the bathroom as Paul was in the shower, "I'm gonna go drop off Madison and your mom at Laurie's, and then Rebecca asked me to go over to her house, maybe we'll send Shawn over here for you."

"Take it, I don't care. Its not like I have a choice or anything." He rinsed shampoo out of his eye.

"But you do have a choice, considering I have no idea where the keys are. You choose whether to tell me where they are or not. But, if you don't tell me where they are, you're mom will probably come in here to get them herself."

"The jeans I was wearing yesterday, they're in one of the pockets I think." He poked his head out, "if they aren't in my pants, you'll have to wait until I get out."

"I'll check first then. Where would they be if not in your pocket?" She walked out of the bathroom, leaving the door wide open, "these jeans right here?" She held a pair of dark jeans up, but the shower had turned off, "they aren't in these."

"I'm gonna get out right now, give me a minute to dry off." He grabbed his towel and wiped his body with it. He wrapped the towel around his waist and got out, "what are you going to do at Rebecca's house anyway?"

She put her head down a little, "well, I ran into her at the store the other day, and well, Shawn told her everything."

"What?" He closed his eyes, "are you serious? Why?"

"She told me that they were having trust issues, he's been lying about everything lately, and they got into a fight, which resulted in her threatening to leave, and he just started spitting everything out, including the truth about us." She bit her lip, "she just wants to talk to me, because she feels like she only knows me through Shawn, who thinks I'm Satan, and she wants us to be friends."

"Oh," he nodded opened his closet door, "I put my keys in here, with some other stuff." He opened the second drawer to his dresser and pulled the keys out of his clothes, "do you know where my sister lives?"

"Your mom does." She took the keys and smiled, "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah, my mom knows how to get to Laurie's house, how are you gonna get to Rebecca's house?"

"I got it Paul, I have all the directions in my purse, I got it all on your computer. Don't worry about me." She closed his bedroom door behind her and walked down the hallway, alright, I got the keys, are you ready Leona?"

"We sure are, aren't we Madison?" She handed the carseat to Stephanie, "I just put a bunch of everything in her diaper bag. Is there anything that needs to be in there?"

"I'm sure you got everything, diapers, at least one change of clothes, formula, did you get her pacifier?" Stephanie carried Madison out to the garage and opened the door, "I have a question about this whole breastfeeding thing, I think I'm about to get my period again, my chest is just so sore all of a sudden, its weird, I know Paul is like, 40 now, but when you had your first, when did you get your period again?"

"Well, with my first, I breastfed for a couple months, but when I stopped, everything just went all back normal. Same with my second and third." She sat in the front seat and waited for Stephanie.

"Wait, you had three? I didn't know that, I only know of Paul and Laurie." Stephanie buckled Madison's seatbelt, "who's the third?"

"Paul doesn't like to talk about him so it doesn't surprise me that he never told you. After Laurie, we had another son named Cameron, he was quite a few years younger than Paul and Laurie. You know about Paul's car accident right? That's why he has the 'special' bed and takes Ambien and is on pain medication, I'm sure he's told you. Well when Cameron turned 21, he went out to a party, and we knew he was gonna drink so we sent Paul to go pick him up so Cameron didn't drive home drunk, but it was too late. Paul was almost to the party when a car swerved in front of him and hit him head on, and in the car, it was Cameron, driving drunk."

"Oh my God," Stephanie covered her mouth, "what happened to Cameron? I mean, Paul's told me about a car accident but he just said he was in an accident that messed his back up bad." She could see tears filling up Leona's eyes, "we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine, it been over ten years, I should be able to talk about it," Leona closed her eyes for a second, "it's probably why Paul got all the hotel rooms when you guys got married, he didn't want anyone driving home." She wiped her face, "Cameron passed away."

The story played in Stephanie's mind as she backed out of the garage, "is that why Paul doesn't drink? I mean, him and I drank on our wedding, and before that, he's done like a shot of whiskey in the kitchen after a stressful day. But our wedding night was the only time he's ever gotten drunk, and I didn't even know it because we both were. He's not a fan of night driving either."

"Yeah, I know." Leona smiled, "anyway, back to your questions, you haven't gotten your period back yet? How often do you feel Madison? Because if you've fed her any less than every four hours in the day, and every six hours at night. If you've been feeding her any less, you should be about to get it."

"Yeah, I've been feeding her more often than that though, or so I thought. Well actually, when Paul feeds her, its usually formula, or milk I got with the pump." She kept thinking of the other day when she threw up, but didn't bring it up.

"Why are you so worried about getting your period anyway? If your breastfeeding on a timely schedule, its like a natural contraception, so, you can't be pregnant or anything. Although if you were, I would be totally happy." Leona noticed Stephanie's pale face at her comment, "I'm sorry, I don't want to rush you guys, you've only been married a little over a month, I know, I just wish Paul wouldn't have waited so long. And you're a beautiful woman, you and him would have such cute children."

Stephanie blushed, "thank you Leona. I think Paul and I would rather wait until Madison is a little bit older. You know, when she is able to entertain herself with toys." She couldn't believe what she was saying.

"That makes perfect sense. Paul and Laurie are actually six years apart. And Cameron was eleven years younger than Paul. Its nice when your oldest is able to do stuff for you. That was really nice."

She pulled into Laurie's driveway and turned the car off, "I'll come in side for a couple minutes and say hi." She got Madison out and followed Leona towards the front door, "she has such a nice house."

"Yeah, the outside is nice, but the inside is another story, four kids, the only one who is in control of all their stuff is Samantha." Leona knocked and smiled as Sam opened the door, "hi honey, is your mom here?"

"No, she took Lily to her doctor's appointment. But she knows you were coming so she left me in charge until you got here." She smiled, "hi aunty Stephanie."

"Hi Sam, how are you?" Stephanie went inside and handed the carseat to Leona, thinking of how weird it was to be called an aunt, her half brothers were younger than her, and it didn't look like kids would be in their future, "well, I'd better get going, I have to find my way to Rebecca and Shawn's house." She smiled, "you call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay, I will, I'm still not sure when I'm gonna need a ride but I'll be sure to call you." Leona smiled and waited for her to close the door.

Stephanie got back in the car and drove off, "he had another brother? Wait, if Paul was eleven years older than his brother, and Cameron died when he was 21, Paul would have been 32. That was only eight years ago, Paul was working for me when that happened." She thought aloud to herself, "why do I not remember that?" She contemplated calling him, just to casually talk, then ask, but knew he wouldn't tell her anything. She hated that they never talked to each other, they did at work, but after they got married, they were just quiet all the time.

She got to Rebecca's house and knocked on the door, a little redheaded girl opened it, "mommy, someone's here." She smiled, "you're uncle Paul's friend huh?"

"Well yeah, I'm his wife, and you're Cheyanne, right?" Steph patted her head, "where's your mom at? She's here right?"

"Of course she's here, where else would she be? Daddy's at work though, he's always at work." Cheyanne closed the front door and grabbed Stephanie's hand, "I'll show you where my mom is. Mom!" She yelled out, "Stephanie's here."

"Oh, well thank you Cheyanne for letting her inside," Rebecca patted her daughter's head, "now go play with your brother, wherever he is," she watched her run off.

"So, Shawn's at work?" Stephanie asked, confused as to why Shawn would be working right now, yes, it was a Wednesday afternoon, but it was also October, nowhere near a busy time in the tax office. She had made Shawn the new manager, but something wasn't right.

"Yeah, he's at work, he says things have been really busy, so he's been there a lot. The kids are kinda upset that he's been gone more."

Steph kept her mouth shut for a second, "well if he can get out early, I told Paul that maybe we could send Shawn over there to hang out with him. Paul's at the house all by himself, I dropped Leona and Madison off at his sister's on my way here."

"Well then I'll call him and tell him to go over there then." Rebecca picked up the phone and dialed her husband's phone number, "oh, is that the engagement ring Paul got you? Let me see it." She wedged the phone between her shoulder and her ear so she could see the ring, "wow, he got you a real diamond ring?"

"What? No, he didn't say that. I didn't expect that from him." She looked at it, "how do you know?"

"Hi honey, how are you? Oh, nothing, Stephanie's here and she told me Paul's home by himself so she said to tell you to go over there if you get off work at a decent time today. Okay, I'll see you when you get home, I love you, bye." She put the phone back on the receiver and looked at Stephanie's ring again, "that's what I do for a living, I work at a jewelry store, and from what it looks like, its real, I'll bet I could be totally sure if I had a magnifying glass."

Inside, Stephanie was confused, she always overanalyzed things, but now, it seemed like she had to, for the past few days, Paul's been nice, and now she finds this out? Paul always complained when he had to do stuff for her, now he was just getting her things like this, a diamond ring in her favorite cut, her favorite flowers on her birthday, he even remembered her birthday in the first place, it was all too weird to be coming from him.


	18. Eighteen

Stephanie had just gotten home with Leona and Madison when the phone rang, "hello?"

"Stephanie?" Paul's asked, his voice sounding scared and people were yelling in the background, "you won't believe where I am right now. I need your help really bad. I made a mistake, okay?"

She bit her lip, "okay, Paul, what's going on?" She sat on his bed holding the phone to her ear, "where are you? Who's yelling?"

He sighed and went quiet for a second, "Stephanie, I'm in jail." He exhaled again, "let me explain it later, I need you to get me out of here. Go to my room, in my closet, in the top drawer, where I pulled the keys out of this morning, there's a wad of cash in there, I need you to bring me six hundred out of there."

"What do you mean you're in jail?" She wanted to scream, "Paul, what the hell? I'm gonna go rushing out of here and pass your mom, what's she going to think?"

"Don't worry about her, just get the money out of the drawer and come get me. The money is to get the truck out of impound."

"Why did you get arrested?" She wanted immediate answers, "Paul?"

"Stephanie, I promise I'll explain everything when you pick me up. I don't have time to tell you everything right now. Just come get me." He hung up, leaving her angry and confused on the other line.

"Oh God," she put her shoes back on and opened his closet door, and just like he said, there was a wad of cash in the top drawer, with the second set of truck keys, she wanted to dig deeper in the drawer to see what else was in there, but there wasn't any time, she pulled six hundred dollar bills from the wad and closed the drawer. She grabbed her purse and went towards the living room, "so, um, Paul called me and needs something, I hate to ask but can you watch Madison just really fast?" She smiled and went out the garage door, waiting until she got in the car to curse Paul out to herself.

When she got to the police station, Paul was sitting in the waiting room, "hey, Stephanie, I'm sorry." He stood up and hugged her, "let me talk to them and get the truck out of impound, then, I'll tell you what happened."

"Okay," she gave him a fake smile and gave him the money, then walked back outside to the Mercedes, where she waited for ten minutes. When he came back out, he could feel her burning a hole in his head, "what the hell happened Paul."

He closed his eyes and grabbed her hand, "you can't even be mad at me though, I was just driving home from eating dinner and the cops pulled me over because one of my license plate lights went out. Its bullshit."

"You don't get arrested because of a license plate light is out. That's why they pulled you over, why did they arrest you?" She watched him, noticing he was trying to keep it from her, "stop trying to think of a lie and just tell me, you said you were gonna explain everything."

"Fine," he bit his lip and looked away, "they found marijuana in my truck." He rolled his eyes, "not very much, but a little, so that's why I got arrested, and they let me go because I admitted it."

"Are you serious? Why did you have marijuana in your truck?" She wanted to laugh, but stayed serious for him.

"Because, I don't smoke cigarettes," he stared at her, "and I wasn't high when they pulled me over, I just had it in the center console. It's how I put up with your shit for so long at work."

She wanted to take that as an insult, "wait, so if you don't smoke cigarettes, what is in the cigarette boxes in the Mercedes?"

"Well nothing now, I took the boxes out because you've been driving it and I didn't want anything to happen to you if you got pulled over or something."

"Wait a second, are you admitting to me that you smoke marijuana?" She looked him over, "since when?"

"Since like, forever, before I even knew you. Shawn does too, but I don't do it as much, a couple times a month maybe, he does like, every week. And there's some other stuff going on with him, and frankly, I'm just done with him." He turned away from her, but she grabbed his shoulder, "what?"

"Have you ever gotten arrested before?" She noticed her ring sparkle, "Paul, why'd you buy me a diamond ring?" She completely changed the subject, somehow she just couldn't be mad at him, "Rebecca told me is was real."

He gave her a puzzled look, "yeah, its real, but, that's because we went to the mall, and it was on sale, if we went to Walmart…"

"It's my favorite cut, and you got me my favorite flowers. Its all really coincidental Paul." She looked up at him, "when she told me it was real, I didn't know what to think."

"What's going on here?" He couldn't help to notice things were getting awkward, "I actually thought you were gonna be kinda mad at me about this whole marijuana thing."

"I don't care," she looked up into his eyes, "why are you done with Shawn?" She glanced away, "what did he do?"

"You know that waitress at the cupcake place? I asked her out that night, and Shawn met up with me tonight, I was with her, then, he was with her."

"He's cheating on Rebecca isn't he?" She shook her head, "I knew it, I knew it when I went over there today, Rebecca told me that he's been working all the time lately, and even Cheyanne told me he's always at work. I didn't say anything, but I'm just like, its October, he shouldn't need to be working that much."

"Yeah, he is, and I'm pretty upset with him for that. That's why I'm done." He sighed, "he slept with the waitress earlier."

"You asked her out?" She frowned, speechless, "with all the stuff you've done for me, I would have thought something else."

"What do you mean?" He caught himself staring back into her eyes, "I asked her out, but while we were eating, I was thinking about how awkward our situation is, and I couldn't just explain that to her, I wouldn't know how to just tell someone I'm married for Immigration purposes, but that's it."

She nodded, wanting the taste of his lips on hers again, but not wanting to deal with how he reacted the last time, "tell me why you freaked out the last time I kissed you, was it really because you didn't want our friendship to be awkward? Or is it something else?"

"Stephanie, I don't know…" before he could come up with a reason for why he acted the way he did the other night, she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around his neck, "what are you doing?"

She answered him with another kiss, "Paul, I know its awkward but, I don't want it to be eventually, the more stuff you've done for me, makes me like you a little more each day. I just want you to know that." She pushed him away and turned to get in the car, hoping he would stop her, but instead, he stood there, silently, not even looking at her.

He walked back to the police impound yard with his receipt in hand, "how could I be so stupid, I asked that girl out right in front of her, no wonder she got upset." He kicked a rock and watched as she drove past him in his car, knowing she was probably crying in it. He just kept walking until he got to his truck, "she hates me, I know she hates me, she has to."


	19. Nineteen

Paul opened the garage door and walked in, noticing all the lights in the house were off, "where is she?" He closed the door behind Stephanie and followed her out to the dark living room, "is she asleep already?"

"I'm in my bedroom," Leona opened her door, filling the hallway with light, "Madison fell asleep about an hour ago and I put her in the crib in your bedroom. And I closed both doors so I wouldn't wake her up. Where have you two been? Stephanie, you look exhausted."

He looked over at Stephanie and saw she was not only tired, but her cheeks were red and still a little tear-streaked, "what are you doing in here?" He stepped into the bedroom, seeing all his mother's clothes strewn about, "why is it such a mess?"

"I'm packing a small bag for tomorrow," Leona smiled, "I'm not gonna take all my clothes to Laurie's if I'm only gonna be there one night."

"You're going to Laurie's house tomorrow?" He was clueless, "when did those plans happen?" He looked over at Stephanie, "she told you I'm sure."

"Yes, I did tell her, I told her before I even came over. I'm going to Laurie's house and taking Madison with me so she can have some time to meet her new family. And you guys get the whole night alone, because obviously, you two need alone time, you guys are acting weird."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "I'm going to bed, goodnight Leona," she smiled, then looked Paul over before walking away, "oh, how about you tell your mom that she can borrow your car tomorrow, we don't need to have both cars here."

He sighed, "yeah, mom, you can have the Mercedes tomorrow," he closed his eyes for a second, "what do you mean when you say Stephanie and I are acting weird?"

"I don't know, you two seem like, you're bored with each other already, and you've only been married for a little over a month, when your father and I got married, let me tell you, we didn't get bored with each other for at least a year."

"Yeah, I didn't need to hear that," he put his hands over his ears, "we aren't bored with each other, we're just have other things on our minds right now. Considering I just came back from the police stations because I was detained for possession of marijuana."

His mother looked him over, "that's how you put up with her for so long huh?" She smiled, "so how much trouble are you in?"

"A little, but don't worry about it, I admitted it and its fine now, they made sure I wasn't high while driving, which I wasn't." He rubbed his forehead, "in other news, Shawn and I aren't talking anymore, I'm done being the nice person for everyone, including Shawn. It was his weed in the truck, not mine." He looked around, "that's why Stephanie's mad right now."

She smiled, "well go talk to her and I'll see you guys tomorrow, goodnight," she reached up and kissed his cheek, "tell Stephanie to pack a bag for Madison, so I can have everything ready early tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll tell her, goodnight mom." He closed her door and walked down to his, letting out a long exasperated sigh before opening it, "my mom wants you to pack a bag for Madison soon so she can leave early tomorrow," he quietly went to his closet and took his shirt off, "you and I have the entire day alone, why is she doing this to us?"

"I don't know," Stephanie pulled her side of the blankets out and tried not to watch him get dressed in his closet, "goodnight," she lied down and pulled the blankets back up.

"Goodnight," he pulled a T-shirt over his head, "I'm gonna go watch TV in the living room," he grabbed his pillow and walked out of the room, he knew she was upset and didn't feel like talking to her. He made his way to the kitchen and opened the freezer, grabbing the tub of ice cream. When he closed the door, Stephanie was standing in the dark, "fucking A," he dropped the ice cream on the floor, "you scared the shit out of me, what are you doing out here?"

"I want to talk to you," she picked the ice cream up and gave it to him, "I miss the way we used to talk at work, I want to be like that again."

"You mean the way you used to talk to me at work, I didn't talk much," he opened the ice cream and scooped it into his bowl, "what do you want to talk about?"

She pushed herself up onto the counter, "I want you to talk," she flipped the light switch behind her, "what's on your mind?"

"Ice cream," he took his bowl to the living room, "that's pretty much the only thing on my mind right now," he sat on the couch, feeling uncomfortable when Stephanie sat next to him, "what do you want?"

"How come you never told me you had a brother?" She watched as his face turned pale, "don't think, just tell me why you never explained that."

He put the bowl on the coffee table, "did my mom tell you that?"

"Well you never did," she rested her head on his shoulder, waiting for him to talk again, but suddenly she heard him sniffle, "come here," she held her arms out to him, "just come here and give me a hug," she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into her arms, where he sobbed on her shoulder for what seemed like forever, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," he sat up and wiped his eyes, "I didn't want to talk about this, I just want to sit here and eat my ice cream and try to go to bed."

She handed him the bowl and got up to get the remote, "if we have to live together for five to six years, we'd better learn how to communicate. At the end of this, we're either gonna be best friends or one of us is gonna end up dead." She sat beck down beside him and turned the TV on, "let's start talking, your turn."

"Why do you have to do this to me? Maybe I don't want to talk to you, maybe I like to keep my life to myself."

"You can't go on doing that forever, or you're the one who's gonna go crazy and then I'll have to be the one to kill you, if you don't kill yourself first."

"Or if I don't kill you first," he smiled, "but then I'd still have Madison and I wouldn't know what to do with her by myself."

"Shut up," she playfully punched him in the arm, "you know exactly how to take care of a baby. And she likes you, that's a plus. See if I were to kill you, we would have a problem because you have all your family who would know it was me, because they still think I hate you."

"I can't believe we're sitting here talking about the consequences of killing each other."

She rested on his arm, "so are we gonna talk or what? It's not that I'm trying to force you to talk about something you don't want to talk about, I just would like to know something that you keep to yourself, cause I know you keep a lot inside."

"Cameron died in a car accident, he was drunk, I was going to pick him up from a party and he hit me. He died and my whole body has been fucked up since then. It explains why I take Ambien to sleep, because I'm in pain all the time and can't sleep on my own. Even with my expensive, made-for-me bed, I still have problems."

"I know, I just wanted to hear it from you. I've learned a lot about you in the time we've been married, and none of its from you, its been either your mom, or your sister, or Rebecca and Shawn. Your mom thinks it's a little weird because she says something about you, and I have no clue what she's talking about, so she has to explain the whole story, and most of the time, it's a story that most people would tell their friends, or wives."

"Well like I said, I keep stuff to myself," he got up and walked back to the kitchen, "why are you so adamant on making me talk about myself?"

"Why does it bother you to talk to me?" She waited for him to come back, "I mean, we could talk through the awkwardness of going to bed together, to make it less awkward."

"Or we could just go to sleep when we go to bed together," he smiled at her, "but tonight I think I want to sleep out here, to clear my head." He walked past her and turned the light off, "don't ask why, just let me do it."

"Fine, goodnight then, see you tomorrow." She pushed him out of the way and slammed his bedroom door behind her.

Paul sighed and threw himself on the couch, thinking how nice it would be if him and Stephanie could just get along. Even though he knew he was the one being stubborn.


	20. Twenty

"Paul," Stephanie sat on the edge of the couch with her hand on Paul's leg, "its time for you to wake up, your mom made plans this weekend, for all of us."

He squinted his eyes at her, noticing she was fully dressed holding Madison in her lap, "what do you mean she made plans? What are we doing? I thought she was going to Laurie's for the night."

"Actually, we're all going with Laurie to her boyfriend's parent's vacation home," she smiled and squeezed his thigh, "trust me, I tried to say I didn't feel like going, or that you probably didn't want to go, but your mom, she…"

"I know, you can't tell her no," he rubbed his eyes and sat up, "you look like you're all ready to leave, where are you going?"

"Well its already noon, and we're leaving for the house in like two hours." She pulled her hand away, blushing, "I packed a bag of clothes for you, but you might want to go and see what's in there."

"Two hours?" He got up and stretched, "where's my mom? Did she ask why I was sleeping on the couch?"

"Yeah, but she said she heard me slam the bedroom door, she just figured we had an argument or something. But she's in the shower right now, go look at your bag and make sure I packed it right."

"Okay," he went to his room and was greeted by his mom coming out of the hallway bathroom, "oh, hey mom, Stephanie just told me what's going on this weekend. Where's this house?"

"You haven't met Laurie's new man yet. His name is Kevin, he invited her and all of us to come stay at his parent's vacation home in El Segundo. They haven't been dating that long but I've met him, he's really sweet, and his parents are loaded, almost like us." She laughed and went to her bedroom.

"So we're going to El Segundo?" He rolled his eyes, "where does he live in El Segundo?"

"Right on the beach, like you. It's supposed to be pretty hot out there so bring a bathing suit. Laurie's kids can't wait to go swimming."

"Paul, did you check your bag yet?" Stephanie stood next to him, knowing Paul didn't really like surprises, and this was two surprises at once, "come on Paul, this is gonna be fun," she pushed him towards his room and closed the door, "don't act all upset."

"I'm not acting upset, I just don't get why I have to go stay at someone's house to go to the beach when I have the beach as my backyard."

She unzipped his bag and sat next to it, "its three days, if we end up not liking it we'll come back home. But I don't think that's what's bothering you, I think it's the other surprise."

"What other surprise?" He pretended he was fine as he rummaged through the neatly packed bag, unfolding almost everything, "I don't like any surprises."

"I know, and Laurie's new boyfriend is a surprise. That's what you're upset about." She started to fold everything in his bag again, "just go take a shower and I'll have everything else ready. Laurie is going to stop by on her way down to El Segundo to pick up your mom, so it'll just be you and me and Madison driving down there."

He looked at her and smiled, "alright, maybe you're right, it could be fun. I'll just suck it up and go, so I can meet this guy."

"Good," she waited for him to close the bathroom door, then she turned around to play with Madison.

"Stephanie, is he alright?" Leona opened the door, "he sounded like he was upset about having to go stay at the house with everyone."

"Yeah, he doesn't like sudden changes in plans so he got kinda irritated, but he's fine now, I told him I would take care of everything and he's okay now."

"Oh okay, I just wanted to make sure, I know how he feels about some of the guys Laurie dates, some of them turned out to be real jerks, but I like Kevin so far, he's great to her and the kids."

Stephanie nodded, "well that's good, don't worry about Paul, he's just been a little stressed out recently." She bit her lip when she heard the shower turn back off.

Leona blushed and came closer, "you know what's good to relieve stress, you know all that lingerie I got you as your wedding present? Just put it on one random night after he's had a stressed out day and see what happens."

"Well I haven't worn any of it yet," she paused to come up with an excuse, "because Madison's been in our room, and it seems like every noise she hears in the middle of the night makes her wake up."

"I can't wait until Maddy's just a little older and she can come stay at Grandma's house." Leona tickled Madison, making her giggle uncontrollably.

Paul stood on the other side of the bathroom door, listening to his mom talk. He sighed and opened the door with a smile on his face, "what? Were you talking about me?"

"Maybe a little," Leona smiled, seeing the way Paul was looking at Stephanie, "you two need some alone time, maybe when we take the kids to the beach we'll have you guys stay at the house for a little while."

"Mom," Paul cleared his throat, "when is Laurie coming to get you?" He went back to the bathroom, "Stephanie, where's my hairbrush?"

"I put it in your bag already, you can use one of mine in there," she nervously was waiting for Leona to leave, but it didn't seem like she was going any time soon.

"Laurie should be here within the next couple minutes. We could take Madison with us if you want, Laurie would be more than happy."

"No, its fine, she can drive with us. Laurie has all her kids to handle." They sat in silence until the doorbell rang, "that must be Laurie," Stephanie picked Madison up and followed Leona to the door.

Laurie and all four kids were standing at the door, "hi mom, Stephanie, hello Madison," she reached out for Maddy, "are you ready mom? Kevin wants to go grocery shopping before everyone gets there."

"Yeah, I have my bags packed, you want me to go put them in the van?" Leona turned to get her bags but Paul was behind her.

"I'll get them for you, hi Laurie," he smiled and took all the bags to the front door, "hey kids, how are you guys?" He was answered with blank, tires stares.

Samantha followed him outside, "Uncle Paul, can I ride with you and Stephanie if you have room?"

"Sure, that's fine with me, why don't you want to ride with your mom?" He opened the trunk of Laurie's minivan and stuffed his mom's bags inside, "so who's this new boyfriend of your mom's?"

"Kevin? You haven't met him yet? They've been dating for hecka long, before you and Stephanie got married they were together. He's really nice to her, and us."

"Does your dad know?" He closed the door and slowly started walking towards his house, "I had no idea she had a boyfriend, nobody told me anything."

Sam nodded, "aren't you guys close though? I'm surprised she didn't tell you," she opened the front door and walked inside, "you'll like Kevin, he's cool."

Paul pulled into the driveway next to his sister's van and took his glasses off, "alright, we're here, let's go in and meet Kevin," he sarcastically yelled and opened his door, "the one thing I want to know is how are we all gonna sleep in this house?"

"We'll figure it out, just don't be an asshole," Stephanie started to get Madison out, waiting for Samantha to close her door, "if you need to go smoke something to keep yourself from being a jerk, go do it."

He turned around and glared at her, "shut up," he slammed the truck door and started to get their stuff out of the back, "don't go there Stephanie, just don't."

"I was kidding, jeez," she grabbed her purse and Madison's diaper bag, "maybe you need to, you're being a dick." She closed her door and followed Samantha to the front steps, "Paul, I'll help you with the stuff, let's just meet up with everyone first."

"Alright," he put one of his arms around her and knocked, then an older gray-haired man opened the door, "oh, dad, hi, I didn't know you were gonna be here."

"Yeah I just got here, I thought I'd hang out with the rest of the family this weekend," he gave his son a hug and smiled at Sam and Stephanie, "hey girls, come on in, say hi to everyone."

Stephanie turned red when she got inside, having extended family who loved to see her made her feel happy, she didn't get that growing up with just her mother and eventually step-family, "hello again Laurie, Leona," before she could say anything, Laurie snatched Madison from her arms and started to play with her, "she's excited to see her auntie again," she smiled at Paul, who had his nephew Trevor in a headlock.

"Hi, Paul, I'm Kevin, we haven't met yet I know," Kevin held his hand out to Laurie's brother, who shook it, smiling, "Laurie and the kids talk about you all the time, they call you their favorite uncle."

"Their favorite huh?" Paul chuckled, "well yeah, I'd have to agree with them, I'm Paul, as you already know, and this is my wife Stephanie and her daughter Madison, well our daughter Madison," he wiped his forehead and gave Stephanie a slightly distressed look.

"Paul and I are gonna get our bags out of the truck, we'll be right back," she pushed Paul out the door, "our daughter? I can't believe you said our daughter," she smiled, "its okay though."

"I didn't think then was the time to explain your whole life story to someone we barely know, so I skipped all the confusion and just said our daughter, even though she's not ours, she's just yours," he gave Stephanie all the light stuff, "where are we even putting all this stuff?"

"I don't know," she smiled, "you know, your mom did tell me to talk you into adopting her, so she can call someone her daddy," she waited for a response, looking into the front window of the house, "they're watching us out here, through the window."

"I know, they've been watching us the entire five minutes we've been here," he closed the back of the truck and leaned closer, "do you want me to adopt Madison?"

She turned her head away from him, "I don't know, I guess so, just so she could call someone dad and it actually meant something. I'm worried about the fact that she'll probably call you daddy, but when she gets older and we," she looked around and leaned towards his ear, "get divorced, she'll be all confused and I hate explaining emotional stuff like that."

He nodded, "I'm surprised she hasn't called me daddy yet, with how much my mom and Laurie talk to her, she's been yelling and screaming, but not talking yet."

"I know, it's coming soon, once they start talking, they don't stop until they're older. I'm just excited for when she can walk, that's what I'm looking forward to." She started to roll her bag up the driveway, "wanna talk about this later? You know, the whole 'adopting' thing?"

"Sure," he followed her to the front door and opened it, "I wouldn't have any problem doing it for you if you want, I would do it for her," he smiled and she could hear in his voice the love he had for Madison, and that he would probably do anything for her.


	21. Twenty One

"Hey, Paul, I made some M&M cookies, here, have one," Laurie handed her brother a cookie, "they're really good," she walked away with a suspicious smirk on her face.

He looked at the cookie and smelled it, "okay, what did you do to them? Why are you smiling like that?" He broke it in half and took a little bite, "it tastes fine," he looked up and saw that Laurie was handing out cookies to the kids.

"I didn't do anything to them, I'm just not a very good baker so if they taste a little weird its probably because I didn't make them right," she eagerly watched Paul eat it, "how was it?"

"Good," he smiled, "why are you watching me eat it? I feel like you poisoned them or something and you're waiting for me to keel over." He swallowed, "Laurie, what are you looking at me like that for?" He uncomfortably opened his bottle of water and took a drink.

"You aren't lying are you? Kevin told me that they weren't sweet enough, and didn't have enough M&M's." She put the platter of cookies on the counter, "isn't it beautiful out here?"

"Just as beautiful as the view from my bedroom," he put the cap back on the bottle and looked up at her, "Sam seems to like Kevin, why didn't I get to meet him until now?"

She shrugged, "because I didn't want you to be a dick to him and scare him away," she cleared her throat, "and plus, you were working for Stephanie still when I met him and she was always stressing you out, and then all of a sudden you two were getting married. I didn't want my news to interfere with yours, you don't even know how excited mom and dad were when they saw you were finally getting married again."

He looked around, seeming paranoid, "I never told Stephanie about that, so shut up. She thinks she's my first wife and that it just took me awhile. And I don't know if she's gonna be okay with my I got divorced."

"Why haven't you told her you were married before? That's one of the first things I tell guys I meet," she fell quiet, "Paul, what does Stephanie know? It seems like you and her don't know a lot about each other."

He got up, grumbling, "why is everyone all in my business all the time? God, everyone is so nosy around here, mom, and you, and even Stephanie, just leave me the fuck alone." He looked up to see Stephanie standing in front of him, with Madison in her arms, "what?" He yelled, angrily.

The big smile on her face turned to a frown and she shook her head, "nothing," she'd never seen him look so upset before, usually it was her always yelling, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he pushed past her and slammed the door to the guest bedroom him and Stephanie were staying. He threw his suitcase on the bed and considered telling Stephanie he would rather just go back home. He pondered what to do for a couple minutes before someone knocked on the door, then he felt angry again, "what?"

"Paul, its me and Madison, can we come in?" She opened the door and peeked in, "are you okay? Why are you so pissed off at everyone? And what did I do?" She closed the door and handed him a glass, "here, drink up, your mom told me to give this to you, its vodka and Seven-Up."

He took the glass and put it on the nightstand, "I'm probably not gonna drink it, you know that," he looked down at Madison, who was smiling at him.

"I wouldn't judge you if you did, you've been all upset the past few days, especially today, and if you need a drink to cool off, then have a drink," she waited for him to pick up the glass, "let me have the glass so I can rub some on Maddy's gums, she's teething, look," she put her finger in Madison's mouth and showed Paul the small little tooth that had begun to come out, "and if you didn't notice the huge smile I had on my face when you went off on Laurie a couple minutes ago, you won't believe what happened in the den."

"What happened?" He took a drink and choked, "who made this? I don't even taste Seven-Up, I just taste vodka."

Stephanie pushed Madison into Paul's lap, "I'll be right back, I have to get Lily for you really fast," she got up and left the room. When she came back, Lily was holding her hand smiling, "okay, remember what I said? Tell Madison what to say."

Lily walked up to her uncle and smiled, Paul just stared at Stephanie, confused, "did she talk?" He asked, waiting for Lily, "did you get Madison to talk sweetheart?"

She nodded, "she said daddy," she tickled Madison, "Maddy say daddy," she rhymed, giggling, "she's talking to you Uncle Paul, because you're her daddy," Lily played with Madison a little more, trying to get her to talk.

Paul bit his lip and glanced at Stephanie, who smiled at him, their gaze was broken by Madison's screeching voice, "daddy," she giggled and squeezed Paul's finger.

"She said it to Uncle Paul!" Lily jumped on the bed next to Paul, in all smiles.

"I never realized how exciting that is," he held Madison tighter, "it's a pretty awesome feeling being called daddy." He cleared his throat and began to stare at Stephanie again, "I'm gonna refill my glass," he stood up and handed Madison back, feeling uncomfortable.

"Okay," she grabbed her daughter and sat with Lily on the bed, "well I thought he would be a little more excited, but I guess not. Let's go back to the den and hang out with everyone else."

Paul went back into the kitchen, smiling, "hi Laurie, mom," he put his glass on the counter and sighed, "alright, the drink helped, and so did Madison calling me daddy, but I apologize for getting upset at everyone, but get me another drink, please," he leaned on the counter, "and what do you have to eat, because I don't really want to get like I did on my wedding night. I don't remember eating anything, just drink after drink."

"Here, I'll make you one," Leona grabbed his glass and filled half of it with vodka, then filled the rest with Seven-Up, "here you go honey," she gave the glass back and smiled, "Paul, I want you to relax this weekend, okay? You're just so stressed out, I can see it, and I'm not trying to be nosy, but I can tell Madison's in the way between you and Stephanie, if you know what I mean."

His drink caught up in his throat and he started coughing, "don't worry about that mom, please don't worry about it too much," he held his chest and fought for air.

"I know all about you men, you say you're all fine but us women can tell when you're sexually frustrated. You're stressed out and angry at everything and everyone. That's what happens when you keep all that testosterone in you."

"Remember how I didn't like talking to you about this when I was younger?" He grabbed another cookie and stuffed it in his mouth, "nothing's changed, I still don't feel comfortable talking to you about it."

Laurie smiled, "its not all that bad, mom and dad have been married for 36 years, obviously they know what they're talking about."

"I'm 39 years old, I don't think its normal that I need to take advice about my sex life from my mom," he sipped on his drink.

"Well my advice is always here just in case you ever need it," Leona stood up and walked down the hallway towards the den, leaving her kids alone again.

"Where's the bathroom at?" Paul stood up, "don't worry, I'll find it," he disappeared down the hall.

Laurie looked down at his glass and smirked, "I'll make him a nicer person," she took his glass and filled the rest of it with just vodka, then put it back. She looked up to see if anyone was coming before going in her purse and taking out an M&M cookie in a plastic bag. She put the rest of the cookies away, but kept the one out, waiting for Paul to come back, "here, eat the last cookie before I put them away," she tried not to hover, but devilishly smiled to herself as he took a bite, as she knew what she'd baked in it.


	22. Twenty Two

Stephanie pushed Paul into the bathroom and slammed the door, "what's wrong with you? How much have you had to drink?"

He leaned on the bathroom counter and thought, "I don't even know," he slurred, not that much I don't think," he looked in the mirror and squinted, "are my eyes bloodshot?"

She crossed her arms, "let me see," she too noticed his eyes were red, "did you smoke pot?" She put her head down, "I thought you said you weren't gonna do that anymore after you got arrested for it? Its not fair that you're making me deal with this."

"I didn't smoke anything," he rubbed his eyes, "I haven't even left your sight Stephanie, and you would know if I did, because I would smell like it. Do you smell pot? Cause I don't." He held his stomach and turned around to the toilet to throw up, just barely making it.

She put her hand over her mouth and turned away, "are you okay? Who was making your drinks?"

"My mom was, I think," he kneeled over the toilet and spit, "all the kids are asleep right? And my parents?"

"Yeah," she helped him up off the floor, "you choose Paul, the full sized bed in the bedroom or the couch in the den, where do you want to sleep?"

"The couch is fine, you and Madison can have the bed," he flushed the toilet and opened the door, "goodnight," he paused and turned around, "I didn't drink that much, but I feel like I got hit by a truck, I'm sorry you had to deal with me this way," he walked to the den and plopped down.

The next morning, Stephanie woke up and went to the kitchen to get Paul a bottle of water, just as she was about to turn the corner, she heard Leona and Laurie quietly arguing, "yes mom, I may have given him a little bit more vodka than I should have, but it was for his own good, he was being such a jerk to everyone yesterday." Laurie scoffed.

"That wasn't all you gave him, Laurie his eyes were bloodshot, like he went out and smoked pot or something, and I know he didn't." Leona pressed on, "what else did you do Laurie?"

"Okay, so I may have also given him a cookie with pot in it, it helped him get to sleep didn't it?"

"So its your fault my husband's been puking all night," Stephanie pointed her finger at Laurie, "why would you do that to him, he's your brother, what the hell is your problem?"

Leona angrily looked at her daughter, "was this all over Kevin? Did you sedate your brother so he would like Kevin?"

"Maybe," she looked away, shamefully, "mom, you know how Paul gets, he's so overprotective of all of us, I didn't mean for him to get sick from it or anything."

"You selfish bitch," Stephanie yelled, "Paul just wants to look out for you because you're his little sister, and you can't accept that because you're so self-absorbed in forcing everyone like Kevin," before she could go on, Laurie reached out and slapped her across her face, a surprise for all three of them. She held her cheek, in silence, and turned around, right into Paul's chest.

He looked up at Laurie and scowled, "I already did like Kevin, but now I'm starting to not like you so much," he put his arm around Stephanie and walked with her to the bedroom, "are you okay?"

She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I shouldn't have said that to your sister, I feel like such a horrible person right now," she sniffled, "I was just going to get you some water."

"Either way, she shouldn't have hit you," he hugged her, "do you see why I didn't really want to come down here? I knew there was gonna be some kind of drama and I just didn't feel like dealing with it. Stephanie, stop crying, you had every right to be mad at her, you shouldn't have had to deal with that, you had to put me to bed last night, it shouldn't have been like that."

She wiped her eyes and sat up on the bed, it was silent until Madison started fussing in her crib, making Stephanie tear up again as she picked her up, "can you get me a bottle of room temperature water please?"

"Sure," Paul got up and left the room, running into his mom in the hallway, "excuse me," he tried to walk past her but she dug her nails into his arm, "what? I have to get Stephanie a bottle of water for Madison."

"Your sister and I are gonna go for a walk, your father and Kevin are taking the kids down to the beach to go swimming, Kevin asked if they were taking Madison, or if you guys wanted to go with them."

"Um, when are they going? Cause Stephanie's gonna feed her and I guess they could take her with them, Steph and I can just meet them down there in a little while."

"I'll let them know," she patted his cheek and smiled, "I'm sorry about Laurie, she said she's just having a hard time with Kevin and her kids, Lily is the only one who seems to like him."

"It was still fucked up that she had to take it out on me, I didn't have a problem with him," he grabbed a bottle of water and went back to the bedroom, "Kevin and my dad want to take Madison to the beach with the rest of the kids, when you're done. I said we would go down there in a little while."

"What about your mom and Laurie?" She added the water to a bottle of powered formula, "are they going too?"

"My mom just said that they were gonna go for a walk, which usually consists of my mom yelling, they'll be out for awhile I'm guessing," he opened his suitcase and grabbed some clothes, "I'm gonna take a quick shower, be right back."

As he was getting dressed, Stephanie knocked on the bathroom door, "I have a question for you, can I borrow one of your T-shirts to wear over my bathing suit?"

He opened the door and looked her over, speechless, she was in a black bikini, "you packed my bag, just go find a T-shirt," he tried not to stutter, or stare, "why are you gonna wear a T-shirt?"

She blushed when she caught him, "because, I feel like I'm showing a lot more than I should, you know why I feel that way?" She waved her hand in front of his face, "you haven't quit staring at me since you opened the bathroom door," she cleared her throat, "forget it, I'm not wearing a bathing suit, hurry up and do your hair so I can have the bathroom," she walked to the kitchen, not knowing he was right behind her.

"What do you mean you aren't wearing a bathing suit?" He inched closer, backing her up into the kitchen counter.

She looked away, flustered, it was the perfect setting, she was in a bikini, he was shirtless after just taking a shower and his hair was sopping wet, dripping down his chest and stomach to the elastic of his sweatpants, "what are we doing?" She bit her lip, "Paul," she whined as he stood in front of her, barely an inch between them.

"What?" He came a little bit closer, before brushing his lips against hers, "am I making you nervous?" He smiled, putting his hand behind her ear, "why is it that when you kiss me, you don't get all skittish like this?"

"I don't know, maybe because we're not in our house, and its so wrong where this is going right now, and I'm trying to figure out in my head the ways we could make it right."

"Where is this going?" He continued to stand over her, knowing she was just as sexually frustrated as he was, "what's wrong?" He leaned down and kissed her again, moving his hand to her lower back and his lips to her chest, covering everything in between. After a couple seconds, he lifted her up onto the counter.

She whimpered his name again, "Paul, not in the kitchen, let's go to the bedroom," she giggled as he picked her up again and carried her towards the bedroom, "do you think Kevin's parents keep condoms here? Cause I don't have any for you."

He put her down on the bed and held his finger up, "I hope they do," he turned around and ran towards the master bedroom, "what am I doing?" He asked himself, putting his hand on his forehead, "I can't do this, I can't…." he turned around to see Stephanie in his T-shirt.

"What can't you do?" She looked away, "this time you led me on, and now I'm upset. I tried twice to get your attention, and both times you walked away from me. I kinda thought you stopped fighting yourself."

"I did for a second," he sighed, "but this is just weird Stephanie, I know you too well and I wasn't supposed to fall for you."

She smiled, "so that's really how you feel? How long have you felt like that?" She pushed past him into the bedroom, "you think they'd be in the nightstand? Or maybe the second drawer of the dresser, where you keep them."

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He went to the bathroom and opened one of the sink drawers, "how do you know where I keep them?"

She opened the dresser and grabbed the box, "because that's where you keep money and all your extra car keys, I just know," she stared at him, "how long have you liked me?"

He turned red, "awhile," he took the box from her, "why have you been in my second drawer?"

She smiled and shrugged, "how long is awhile?" She tugged at the waist of his sweats, "what? Now I'm the one making you nervous?"

He smiled, "awhile is a long time," he turned her around, "wait, do you hear my mom talking?" He pushed her to their bedroom and threw the box of condoms into Stephanie's bag on the bed, "we can't do anything here, I should have guessed they would come back now."

She sat on the bed, watching Paul slam he bedroom door shut. The front door clicked and someone came stomping down the hallway, past the door, to the master bedroom, "I think that was your sister," they heard things being thrown around, then everything went silent, "Paul, go check on her."

"Why do I have to check on her? I'm the one mad at her," he stood against the door, "I'll bet she's acting like a little brat just because my mom 'talked' to her."

"Fine, she slapped the shit out of me, but I'll go talk to her," she got up and pushed him out of the doorway, "Laurie?" She peeked out and walked around the corner, "Laurie, are you okay? Paul and I heard you throwing stuff around in here," she slowly entered the master bedroom, seeing clothes all over the floor. She didn't see Laurie but she felt Paul's hand on her waist, "what are you doing out here?" She whispered, surprised he followed her.

"I figured we should face her together," he cleared his throat, "Laurie, are you in here?" He noticed the bathroom door was shut, "are you okay?"

"Just leave me alone, everyone hates me around here," she was packing her stuff loudly, "you guys hate me, mom and dad hate me, my kids hate me, I'm surprised Kevin hasn't told us to leave yet."

"We don't hate you," Stephanie smiled reassuringly, "I'll admit we were mad at you, but we never hated you. You made a mistake, a really big mistake, but its okay now, I think we're over it," she looked up at Paul, "are you over it?"

"Sure," he shrugged, receiving an elbow to his ribs, "yeah, I'm over it," he cringed when Stephanie put her hand on his thigh. He grunted and moved it away, "what are you doing?" He whispered, trying to keep serious, "stop."

Her hand gently brushed over the front of his pants, "Laurie, maybe you and Kevin just need some alone time with the kids. Without your parents or us. Make some plans that you can do with just all six of you guys."

Paul could only think of how bad he wanted to go back home and have Stephanie all to himself. He groaned and walked away, wishing Laurie would just tell them to go home so she could do what Stephanie told her, "I'm taking a nap," he went to the bedroom and closed the door.

"Stephanie, I'm sorry, I should've never done what I did last night, and what I did this morning. It's just that, Paul's always been overprotective of me, and it was always hard for me to get him to like someone I liked. He hated my ex-husband, and I mean, hated him."

"Well I don't have an older brother, but I have two younger step-brothers and I know how that goes," Steph motioned to the duffel bag, "why don't you just go and unpack your stuff again. Tonight, Paul and I, and your parents will take all the kids out to dinner, while you and Kevin have your 'alone time', sound good?"

"Alright, fine," Laurie smiled and took all her clothes back out, "where are you guys planning on going?"

"I don't know, we'll think of something. I think you and Kevin should go on a little date of your own. I've heard of this nice little restaurant by here, I can call and make a reservation for you."

"Oh Stephanie, you don't have to do that. You're so sweet," she reached out and hugged her, "I'm happy to call you my sister-in-law. When I was married to Jim, his sister hated me, I don't even know why, I tried to be so nice to her and she treated me like crap."

"I'm gonna go call that restaurant for you, and then wake Paul up, I'll bet he's not even sleeping anyway," Stephanie walked away, gently knocking on the door, "get dressed, you and I and your parents are taking the kids out today."

He laid in the bed, his hand covering his face, "who's idea was that? Where are we going?" He grunted as his questions went ignored, knowing he had no valid argument, "okay, fine."


	23. Twenty Three

Paul stuffed all his clothes back in his duffel bag, it was finally time to go back to his house for some peace an quiet, "hey, Steph, you want me to take your bag out to the truck?"

"Sure, if you want," she smiled, seeing he was excited to be going home, "when you come back, can you help me pack up Madison's stuff?"

"Yeah," he nodded and walked away. He threw the bags in the bed of his truck, then opened the door. He reached in the center console and grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Making sure no one could see him, he put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it, sighing in relief.

"Paul," His mother came walking towards him, "what are you doing? I thought you quit smoking a few years ago."

He stared at her, wide-eyed, "mom, I don't want to talk about it right now. I never quit, I tried but it never worked," he turned away from her and exhaled, "sorry I lied."

"What's going on with you?" She leaned on the truck beside him, "you've become a completely different person now you're married, and I'm not sure I like it."

"I'm confused now, I don't know what to do anymore," he paused, "is it normal to feel weird and confused after you get married?"

"When are you going to admit to me what's really going on between you and Stephanie? You tell me that, and I'll give you my advice," she crossed her arms.

"What are you talking about? Stephanie and I got married, and now everything's weird and confusing."

"Do you not love her like you thought you did? Maybe everything happened too fast, faster than you should've gone. I mean, you two did get married quickly."

"I do love her," he cringed hearing that come out of his mouth. Saying those lovey things about her seemed to come easier and more naturally, almost like he meant them, "but now that we're married, things are different. Like the honeymoon stage is already over." He put the cigarette out and turned to her, "what did you mean by what's really going on between us?"

"It just seems weird, like you guys just got married for nothing. Like, I can see there's that little spark between you, but it doesn't look like you got married because you love each other. I don't get it."

"I don't get it either," he put his lighter and cigarettes back in the truck, "what's the real reason you came out here? I know you didn't see me smoking."

She nodded, "I want you and Stephanie to take the kids back to your house for Laurie and Kevin."

"Are you serious?" He put his head back and sighed, "for what?"

"They need some time alone, and I think you and Stephanie need some time with the kids. You used to always want to be with them, now all of a sudden you don't?"

"No, I love seeing them, I just don't know if I have the space right now. How long are they staying with us?"

"Maybe a couple weeks, but your father and I are going home. I ended up bringing all my stuff because I talked Laurie into it before you got here. Maybe you can slip in a good word for Kevin while they're with you? Trevor and Joey still aren't too fond of him, especially Trevor. I'm sure he just wants his dad back."

"Where the hell has Jim been? I've barely heard his name since they got divorced. Did he fall off the edge of the planet or what?"

"Trevor and Samantha still see him when they want, but it seems he doesn't care to be with his kids at all. I don't understand how you can just leave and never want to see your children again. Why would someone put their own kids through that?"

He shook his head, thinking about how Madison would feel when him and Stephanie got divorced, "I don't know," he looked over at his truck, "so if I take the kids, how am I supposed to get them to my house in my truck?"

"Laurie's letting you borrow the minivan. Here's what's going to happen, Laurie's taking us to the airport to drop us off, then she's going to her house to pack clothes for all the kids. She's going to drive the van to your house while Kevin follows her in his car, you keep the van and they'll leave in his car. All you have to do is go home with Stephanie and Madison and relax until they get there."

"Okay, easy enough," he smiled, "you're really going home today? You already have a flight and everything?" He followed her back in the house.

"Your father arranged our flight for us already, we're really going home today," she turned around and put her arms around him, "I'm gonna miss you, like always," she smiled and kissed his cheek, "we're coming back for Thanksgiving next month though, I think we're planning a big dinner with Laurie and the kids too."

"Well my house isn't very big, it doesn't accommodate very many people, you know that, maybe we can have it Laurie's house for once."

Kevin came out of the third bedroom juggling almost a half-dozen bags, "excuse me, sorry, Laurie asked me to get the kids' suitcases in the van, I'm trying to get them all at once."

"She finally found a man who does something," Paul smirked, getting a playful slap in the chest from his mother, "what? Jim wouldn't have done that, Jim wouldn't even wash a dish, remember?"

"Paul, come take Madison so I can pack her diaper bag up," Stephanie yelled out, waiting for him to come back, "so do you like the news? Your mom told me last night," she handed Madison to him, "I thought it was a good idea, what do you think?"

He closed the door and sighed, "my mom just interrogated me."

"About what?" She looked up at him, "she thinks something's up with us. She already asked me."

"I was outside smoking a cigarette and she came up to me asking why I was smoking. I was supposed to have quit a couple years ago, I told everyone, especially her, that I did, but I didn't. She says I've been acting weird ever since we got married. I don't really know what she means."

"You're all quiet, and kind of depressed-looking, she says she's just worried about you, she wants her son back the way he was. I want you back the way you were, remember when you first started working for me, you were goofy, you always joked around and you made it fun to be at work."

He sat down on the edge of the bed, silent, not knowing what to say. He nodded and stared up at her, "I don't think I changed that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She narrowed her eyes, "are you trying to say I did that to you?"

"No, I'm not saying anything," he watched as she turned bright red, "I just know I used to be funny, then I started working for you."

"Oh fuck you," she shook her head, "I don't even know what to say to that. This is what I mean, all you ever want to do is pick a fight with me."

He smirked, "so now you know how it feels. All the fights you started with me, over stupid shit."

She snatched Madison from his arms and threw the diaper bag at him, "don't start with me right now, just don't."

"Ooh, are we upset about something?" He picked up the bag and smiled, "what's stuck up your butt?"

She reached up and smacked him across his cheek, "just leave me alone. You came in here and started talking to me, and it was just to start a fight, just get out."

He stood up, holding his face, still grinning. He leaned in towards her ear, "if you wanted it like that, all you had to do was tell me. You're pretty sexy when you're angry," he let out a slight laugh before turning away and walking out the door, leaving her in a whirl of emotions.


	24. Twenty Four

Stephanie slowly put Madison in her portable crib, she had finally fallen asleep after hours of holding and singing to her, "you know what sucks? Now that she's asleep, Laurie's kids are coming any minute now."

He nodded, not looking up from his computer, "they never told me what time they were coming. It very well could be any moment now."

"I'm sorry I kind of slapped you earlier," she hung her head, "I've just been a little 'on-edge' lately. You know that."

"Yeah, I know, I didn't take it personal," he got up and walked past her towards his bedroom into his closet.

She walked behind him and sat on his bed, "did you mean what you said about me? Or did you just say that to get under my skin?"

As he dug through the top drawer of his dresser, he was looking at her, smiling, "how about you come over here and slap me again and we'll find out."

She stared at him in shock, her face burned as he continued to grin at her. She couldn't tell whether he was serious or just kidding, "what?" Before she could control herself, she had gotten up and was standing close in front of him.

"Go ahead, slap me," he leaned towards her, inches from her lips, "how about we finish what we started the other day at the beach house?"

"Right now?" She whispered, "but your sister will be here soon. What if she gets here like, in the middle of everything?" She protested while he put his arms around her waist and kissed at her neck, "does she knock when she comes here?"

"Don't worry about Laurie," he backed her into the bed, slipping his hands up under her shirt, "I'll do everything, you just keep an ear out."

She nodded, letting out a slight moan, "I hope she knocks and just doesn't come in," she couldn't keep a train of thought with Paul's hands all over her. She unbuckled his belt and pulled his T-shirt out from under his pants.

He ducked for her to take it off over his head. She broke their kiss and pushed herself up on his bed, motioning for him to climb up after her. He was on his hands and knees above her with his pants pushed down around his thighs when they heard the front door close and footsteps on the tile entryway.

"Paul?" Laurie knocked on the bedroom door, "we're here, and we noticed it's quiet so we thought Madison is probably asleep," she paused when Paul opened the door, shirtless, "hi."

"Hey Laurie," he cleared his throat, "does Kevin need help getting the kids' stuff out of the car?"

"Him and I can do it," she smiled, "you need us to come back or something? Were you busy?" She handed him a key with a small remote control, "here's your new car."

"No," he sighed, "I had a stain on my shirt so I was gonna change it, I was in here on the computer," he put the keys in his pocket, "thanks for the new car. A minivan, I've always wanted a minivan."

"About time you start driving a minivan," Laurie stuck her tongue out at her brother, "what do you plan to do with my kids for the next couple weeks?"

"Oh, you know, only the mildly dangerous stuff, they're driving by now right?" He laughed as Laurie gave him a horrified face, "actually I was going to teach them how to flambé their food."

"Oh my God, stop it, do not let them drive a vehicle or show them how to light their food on fire. I'd better leave before I just take them back with me."

"Paul, stop scaring your sister," Stephanie came down the hallway, smoothing her shirt down, blushing as Paul laid eyes on her, "so what are you and Kevin gonna do without the kids?"

"I don't know yet, Kevin says he has a couple things planned, and he won't tell me anything because its apparently a big surprise."

Stephanie took Laurie's arm and took her down the hallway toward the dining room, with Paul slowly following, "so where are the kids?"

"Helping Kevin with their stuff, but I think Lily and Joey fell asleep on the way over here, I know they didn't sleep very well last night."

"I'll go help," Paul opened the door and saw Kevin attempting to pick someone up out of the van, "if you get Lily, I'll get Joey, I can still pick him up."

"Alright, thanks, I don't think I can," Kevin smiled and carried her halfway to the door, "where should I put her?"

"The bed in the extra bedroom is fine, it doesn't matter, just be careful of Madison because she's asleep in there, "so I heard you and Joey had a little too much soda yesterday, you couldn't sleep all night?"

"Barely," Trevor yawned, "I'm so tired right now Uncle Paul, I could just fall asleep at any moment," he slowly carried his stuff up to the door, "can I go to bed early tonight?"

"You can go to bed whenever you want, but don't be mad if you miss out on anything," Paul grunted and hoisted Joey up over his shoulder, "what about you Sam, did you sleep?"

"Kind of, I stayed up with the boys so they didn't wake anyone else up, I'll probably be one of the first to fall asleep later."

"Well, you guys are boring," Paul laughed, taking Joey to the extra bedroom, "just put your stuff in here or in the living room for now, we'll figure that stuff out later."

Laurie hugged her kids one by one before hugging her brother, "thank you so much Paul for this huge favor. I just want to let you know that both Sam and Trevor have their laptops for their home school classes. They know I can check to see if they've been doing their work, so you shouldn't have to worry about that."

He nodded, "alright, don't worry, they'll be fine, they're gonna do their homework on time I promise. Just go have fun." He moved them to the front door, "we'll call you later to check in," he closed the door behind them and turned around, "looks like its party time."

Both Trevor and Samantha smiled sleepily, only wishing to be able to go to sleep, "I don't think we're gonna be able to party tonight Uncle Paul," Samantha shook her head.


	25. Twenty Five

"Paul, your phone is ringing," Stephanie put her hand on his cheek, listening to the loud ear-piercing tone.

He felt around for his phone on the nightstand, by the time he had the phone in his hand, it had stopped ringing. He looked at the missed call, then at his alarm clock, "what the fuck? Why the hell is Shawn calling me at midnight?"

"That was Shawn?" She yawned and sat up, "are you gonna call him back or do you think he maybe called you on accident?"

"I'm not calling him right now, I'm sleeping, I don't even know why he's calling me," he grunted and put his phone back.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, someone started pounding on the front door, "what the hell?" He threw his blankets off and turned the small nightstand lamp on, "someone's at the door?"

She was still sitting in the bed, "yeah," she pulled her shirt up and glared at him, "you don't think that's Shawn, do you?"

He opened his bedroom door and slowly tip-toed down the hallway with Stephanie close behind him, "I swear to God, if I open this door and Shawn is standing on the porch, I'm gonna punch him straight in the face," he flipped the outside light on and angrily pulled the door back.

Shawn stood on the front step holding a small child whom Paul had never seen before. The cold, ocean wind blew through their hair, which seemed to almost match, "hi Paul, Stephanie," he stared at the ground, "I'm sorry if I woke you up, I…" he shifted the little girl up on his shoulder, "we need help."

"Paul, let him inside, its too cold for her to be out there," Stephanie reached out and grabbed Shawn's jacket, pulling him into the house, "who is she Shawn?"

Once again, Shawn couldn't look them in their faces, he seemed too ashamed to speak, "well," he shook his head, "I fucked up, I made a mistake, and I'm in deep shit now," tears welled up in his eyes and he let out a small whimper, "Rebecca kicked me out, my other girlfriend kicked me out, I had nowhere else to go."

Stephanie motioned for Paul to take the little girl, "you had another girlfriend?" She put her hand on his shoulder, "come in the dining room with me, Laurie's kids are staying over here and Samantha is sleeping on the couch."

"Paul's still mad, I know, he probably doesn't want to talk to me," he sat in one of the chairs, wiping his eyes, "her name is Emily, we call her Ellie, she's my daughter."

"How old is she?" Paul slowly emerged from the darkness of the living room, "she's asleep on the loveseat in there, I don't know where you're gonna sleep though."

"Paul, her name is Ellie," Stephanie's eyes locked with his, and in just a few milliseconds, he knew what he wasn't allowed to talk about.

"She's almost three," Shawn put his head down, "can I have some tissues, or a napkin?"

Stephanie jumped up and grabbed the napkin holder from the kitchen counter, "you know we aren't judging you if you need to cry it out," she opened the refrigerator and got a bottle of water out for him, "are you hungry or anything?"

He shrugged, not wanting to look at his best friend across the table, "I feel like I'm bothering you guys, I should have just found a hotel room for us."

"Its fine Shawn," Paul bit his lip, still somewhat wanting to punch him from across the table, "I thought you and Rebecca were fine, what happened?"

"We haven't been fine for a couple years, she became so demanding of me, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't do anything without having to explain every detail to her, she thought I was cheating before I even did."

"What about your other girlfriend? Why did she kick you and Ellie out?" Paul watched Stephanie as she went up in the cabinet for a jar of pasta sauce, "what are you doing? You don't cook."

"I do cook, I just don't cook for you," she turned her nose up at him and continued to gather ingredients, "you complain about food too much."

Shawn smiled, "Mandy kicked me out because I told her I wasn't with Rebecca anymore, when I was. Mandy treated me like I was treating Rebecca, she has another boyfriend, I know how Becky feels."

"What about Cheyenne and Cameron? Do they know why their father isn't staying at home now?"

"Becky told them, and she told me that I'm only getting to see them every other weekend. She thinks I'm not a good enough parent for them."

"Why do you have Ellie? Mandy let you just take her?" Paul stood up to see what Stephanie was frying, "are you making spaghetti?"

"Mandy made me take Ellie with me, she said she wanted nothing to do with me, and Ellie is my daughter, so, she doesn't want us anymore," Shawn got up and sighed, I'm gonna use the bathroom."

"I can't believe this," Paul whispered, "that's why Rebecca complained he was spending so much time at the office, he was with Mandy and Ellie, I mean, I knew he cheated a couple of times, but I had no idea he had a girlfriend and another daughter," he leaned over Stephanie's shoulder, "you are making spaghetti," he sniffed, "you know if your spaghetti is horrible, I'll hate you forever."

"You'll hate me forever?" She scoffed, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"Spaghetti is my favorite food, and I mean favorite. But everyone disappoints me because nobody can make it right," he put his chin on her shoulder and kissed her neck, "too bad Shawn had to show up tonight."

She let out an almost silent moan, "you were already asleep, how did he change anything?"

"Its even more awkward now, he still thinks we hate each other," his fingers slid all the way down, grabbing a handful of her bottom.

She turned around, blushing, "Paul," she put her hands in his hair, "you best friend is having trouble, don't make it worse for him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He leaned down and kissed her, starting with her lips, moving over on her cheek, then her neck. She opened her eyes to see Shawn standing in the hallway, eyes wide, staring at them.

"What's going on here?" He put his head down, "so how long has this been going on?"

She covered her mouth with her hand, embarrassed. She looked up at Paul, who had a similar look on his face, "Shawn, we can explain," Paul exhaled, "at first, it was all for Madison, but, when you live with someone of the opposite sex, its hard not to fall for them."

"How come you didn't say anything to me?" He angrily whispered, "you could have said something, so I didn't come here and be like a third wheel."

"We aren't third-wheeling you, not that it would matter, you did it to me all the times I hung out with you, you would get your 'date' drunk so you could get them to a hotel room with you. But you made me come along so if you got caught, you could say she was with me, remember?"

Stephanie put her hand on Paul's chest, "guy, stop it, don't start this now, there are six children sleeping in this house, do not wake any of them up."

"I'm sorry Paul, I'm sorry I did that to you," he sighed, "I'm happy for you guys though."

"Who's talking in here?" Samantha came in behind Shawn, "why are you guys all up right now? And why are you making spaghetti?"

"Um," Shawn smiled, "I came to visit, and Stephanie asked if we were hungry. Are you hungry?"

"No," she crossed her arms, "you came to visit at this time of the night? Who's the little girl out on the other couch?"

"Sit down Samantha, I'll explain what's going on," Paul pointed to the table, "you're a teenager now, I think you'll understand. Shawn was married to Rebecca, but he made a mistake, he cheated on his wife, and now he has another daughter, her name is Ellie. Just remember we aren't judging Shawn for what he did."

She watched as Shawn sat in a chair across from her, his head in his hands, "so does this mean we won't see Cameron and Cheyenne anymore?"

"I think we'll still see them, but not as much," Paul nodded towards Shawn, "I have an air mattress we can set up for you, but we have to blow it up in the car, its for camping."

"Thanks for everything, thanks for letting me stay here even through all the dumb shit I did."

"You did it for me," Paul stuttered, "I mean, you would have done it for me," he and Shawn stared at each other.

"She doesn't know?" Shawn whispered just low enough for Stephanie and Samantha not to hear.

Paul shook his head and mouthed the word 'no', then put his finger in front of his lips and shushed him.

"What are you guys talking about?" Stephanie leaned over the counter with narrowed eyes, "spaghetti's done," she handed out plates and silverware, still watching Paul, who knew he was caught with another secret.


	26. Twenty Six

**Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't updated anything in forever. I've been going to school full time and I have a job. Hopefully now that I have about 2 weeks left of school, I can get back into the swing of writing. :D**

Stephanie woke up with Paul's arms around her and his face buried in her neck. She smiled and pushed his arm to his side, surprised to see his nephew Joey asleep at the bottom of the bed between their legs, "Joey, honey, how did you end up in here?" She gently tugged on his shoulder.

Joey yawned silently while staring at her, "there's too many people on the bed, I didn't fit anymore."

"What do you mean there's too many people on the bed, its only you three little ones," she shook Paul's arm, "get up," she climbed out of bed and followed Joey down the small hallway to her old bedroom, where the door was open just an inch.

"Sister came in here and I couldn't fit," he motioned for her to lean down, "she said Shawn was snoring too loud."

"Well I hope you go some sleep in our bed, did you?" They quietly walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, "you want some cereal?"

"Yes, please," he sat at the dining table while Stephanie poured a bowl of Fruit Loops for him, "thank you auntie," he smiled and began to eat.

"Morning Steph," Shawn stood in the doorway, Ellie's arms wrapped around his leg, "I'm sure there's something we can get you for breakfast," he sat her down in the chair beside Joey, "you want some Fruit Loops sweetheart?"

"Yes daddy," she whispered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she occasionally glanced over at Joey, "hi."

"Hi," he giggled, "what's your name?"

"Emily," she stared up at Shawn as he handed her the bowl of cereal, "thank you," she quietly spooned the cereal into her mouth.

Shawn stood in front of the coffee maker, "so, Stephanie, when did this whole thing between you and Paul begin?"

She blushed and tried to push past him, but he didn't move, "Shawn," she rolled her eyes, "get out of my way."

"I just want to know, because the last time him and I talked, you two were only married, nothing more."

"Is this supposed to be some sort of weird relationship advice? Something tells me that you, of all people, should refrain yourself from giving any of that."

"No, this isn't relationship advice," he scoffed, moving out of her way, "it makes me laugh, there's so much more you don't know about him. I think its honesty time."

"What?" She looked at him, "what do you know that I don't?"

"I've already said too much," a smirk across his face. He took his cup of coffee and sat down at the table, "how did you sleep honey?" He leaned over towards his daughter, waiting to see Stephanie make her move.

She took a coffee cup out of the cupboard, thinking, she put it on the counter and walked back down the hallway towards the bedroom, "morning," she sat next to him, "how'd you sleep?"

"Alright," he smiled and sat up, "is everyone awake?"

"No, just Joey, Emily and Shawn," she hated herself for what she was about to say, "I hate to sound like a whiny bitch, but, what does Shawn know that I don't?"

"What are you talking about? What did he say?" He grumbled, knowing Shawn had a problem when it came to keeping his mouth shut.

"I don't know, what could he have said?" She sighed, "I didn't really want to bring this up right now, but he just keeps waving this something in front of my face."

"Hmm," he sat up and walked towards the bathroom, "can we bring this up again when we don't have all these people in our house?"

She nodded, "alright, fine, we'll talk about it later. When you forget and pretend like you have no idea what I'm talking about."

"I promise that we can talk about this later. I won't forget, I promise," he smiled, "what did Shawn say to you?"

"He said there's so much about you that I don't know. Then he proceeded to tell me it was 'honesty time', whatever that's supposed to mean. And when I asked what he knew, he was like, I've already said too much."

"He's just being a jackass, don't think too hard on what he says to you," he closed the bathroom door behind him. Once she heard the toilet flush, she jumped up to close and lock the bedroom door, "what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna take a shower," she smirked, her arms wrapping around his neck, their lips inches apart from each other. He leaned in to kiss her, but she took a step back, "you do what you want."

His face turned red, "I don't know what that's supposed to mean."

She slowly backed up into the bathroom, pulling the shoulder strap of her nightgown down to her arm, "take a hint," she giggled, "I think you need to take a shower too."

"What?" He was confused, "Stephanie, what are you doing?"

"Like I said, take a hint," she gave out a frustrated sigh, "I'm trying to make you come in here."

"But what about everyone out there?" He motioned to the door, "is Shawn awake?"

"Yeah," she grabbed onto his T-shirt, "come on," she roughly pulled him into the bathroom and shut the door, "I figure if we do it in the shower, nobody will hear because of the water, and everyone still thinks you're asleep so they'll think its just me taking a shower."

He stood still as she undressed him down to his boxers, "are you okay?" He cooperated, knowing the result would be just as rewarding for him, "I can't say anyone's every wanted me this bad."

"It's been a really long time, and I think I'm PMS'ing." She lifted her nightgown above her head. She nervously crossed her arms in front of her stomach once she caught him staring, "what?"

"Can I just say, you can't even tell that you've ever been pregnant. Your body doesn't show it." He couldn't take his eyes off her chest, "you're beautiful Stephanie."

She quickly spun around and turned the water on, "my boobs are bigger. Just wait until I stop breastfeeding."

"If they get bigger after you quit, we might have to do this again," he pulled his boxers down, then stuck his finger in the elastic of her underwear, "we actually get to do it this time?"

She turned back around and kissed him, "yeah," she whined, his beard tickling her neck. His hand slid in the back of her underwear, "why don't you take them off," she giggled, both his hands pushing the sides of her panties down.

"You ever done this in the shower before?" He hoisted her up in his arms and gently pressed her up against the tile wall of the shower, "I've had my bouts with shower sex."

"I actually haven't done this before," she rested her head against the wall, moaning as he grinded into her. Her hands squeezed the muscles in his arms, which were huge holding her weight. It was thrilling, how quickly things moved, how unexpected it was, knowing Shawn was in the kitchen, suspicious as always. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on how great he felt between her legs.

"We have to finish this some other way," he whispered in her ear, "my back hurts," he slowly lowered her so her feet, "we could always use the floor," he smiled and moved in to kiss her neck, "its up to you."

"There's no way I'm just gonna stop without finishing anything," she twirled a strand of his wet hair around her fingers.

"The floor it is then," he watched as she got down on the floor, "it might be easier if you got on your hands and knees."

"Oh, you want it that way huh?" She shook her head, "I guess I should have figured that if we were getting on the floor." She got down on her hands and knees, just like he suggested, then the feeling of his stomach against her back almost seemed to surprise her.

He was hunched over her, grunting and whispering in her ear, "shh, keep your voice down."

She couldn't, the overbearing feeling of pleasure made her want to scream. She opened her mouth to give him a sassy remark but nothing came out. She was about to let out her ending cry when he covered her mouth. He kept his hand over her mouth until she was quiet, then put it back down for balance, "oh my God."

"Why did you cover my mouth?" She took deep breaths, looking up to see her wet hair surrounding her face, and his, tangled up with it. She felt his lips on the back of her neck, "what are you doing?" She moved over and sat on the floor, "we just did that. Oh my God, it had been so long." She pushed her hair back out of her face.

"You have no idea. You have an eight month old baby, at least you've gotten some in the past two years," he leaned towards her, "its been like ten years, every time I almost got some, the phone would ring."

"No wonder, it makes sense how quickly you got 'him' up," she laughed, "don't think I didn't notice how fast you were able to do that."

"How much more time do you think we have?"

"For what? We can't do it again, an hour-long shower is kind of suspicious don't you think?"

"Fuck, I guess so," he stood up and opened the shower door, "maybe when you take a shower tomorrow, I can help." He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door.


End file.
